Retrofit Update

On Wednesday, July 28, the Diversity & Inclusion Department of Actors' Equity Association provided members and update on its Diversity & Inclusion Retrofit of the organization.

In 2020, in the wake of the multiple pervasive abuses of power by law enforcement, including the murder of George Floyd, Americans were outraged. Protests across the country called for individuals and organizations to examine our hearts, change our behaviors, and root out systemic bias and discrimination. Equity leadership heard the voices of Equity members cry out in that call, and through our Retrofit initiative, began the work to create the just industry – the just union – you so rightfully deserve.  

One year later, this webinar provided Equity members with an update on where the union is with this work. National Diversity & Inclusion Strategist Bliss Griffin facilitated a panel of Equity leadership and staff to review what we’ve done and where we are going as we continue to #ChangeTheStage by becoming an antiracist union. 

Griffin began by sharing her own journey, as a performer who witnessed a lot of exploitation in the industry, especially towards workers of marginalized groups. She studied business, and is now in law school, in addition to her full-time role at Equity. 

Bliss also shared the purpose and background of Equity’s diversity and inclusion department, which began in 2017. The department began researching hiring practices in the industry, but also tackle some very complex issues. 

“It's not so simple when you have a workplace where you may be asked to use racial epithets or to kiss your colleagues or any number of very personal intimate sometimes offensive things in the name of telling a story,” said Griffin. 

Griffin spoke about council’s 2020 Black Lives Matter resolution, and how communication with members spurred on the creation of the D&I Retrofit, to “rebuild Actors’ Equity Association into an antiracist organization, whose policies and operation enact its commitment to inclusion and belonging and also serve as a model for other organizations in the theatre industry.” She explained the eight “pillars” of the retrofit, such as developing staff and opening union membership more widely, as well as the processes to make change within the union. 

She went into some detail on how the union has been developing staff, including committing to hiring more people of color, particularly into executive roles. 

As for the pillar of “empowering members,” Griffin spoke about small, focused working groups comprised of members that are not necessarily on council, that assemble to tackle specific issues. 

For “guiding employers” the union has public resources on self-guided learning that they offer to producers, for example. 

As for opening access to membership, Griffin referenced the union’s annual diversity and inclusion study, which demonstrate that employers disproportionately hire people with greater societal privilege. 

“Our current pathways to membership are always through an Equity theater or sibling union,” noted Griffin. "They are disproportionately white organizations with audiences and programming and therefore casts that reflect those identity groups... So the Open Access working group thought that it would be very important to establish some pathways to membership that do not go through employers and thereby favor people with socially privileged identities over those with socially marginalized identities.” 

Griffin shared more about the union’s new Open Access policy, which creates better equity in a number of ways beyond expanding eligibility criteria, such as extending the amount of time a new member has to pay their initiation fees. This policy is in place for two years while the union decides the best path forward after that. 

Griffin emphasized that while the retrofit is a coordinated strategy, it is not the full extent of the way that Equity engages in antiracist or inclusive progress. For example, Equity has recently begun negotiating anti-harassment language into collective bargaining agreements as a safety issue. 

At that point, Griffin shifted to the questions and answers portion of the event, directed towards her as well as staff and member leaders. The first question was: “How can Actors’ Equity be a model for equity, diversity and inclusion when they are still trying to figure it all out?” 

Central Principal Councilor Bear Bellinger responded: 

“Obviously we're all still trying to figure it out... it doesn't matter how much research you've done it doesn't matter how much education you've had in this work. Every day you're learning and you're figuring out how to do better. 

“Equity has a lot of work to do... We can lay out all the work that's happening, and saying, ‘Here's what we're looking at, here, what we're doing, what more can we do,’ is a way to model progress, and that is what Actors’ Equity is attempting to do right now."

Another question asked about connecting Equity members with one another. Equity’s Western Regional Director Gail Gabler responded, urging members to consider joining committees, working groups, action teams or liaison committees as appropriate. 

The next question was what support the union is offering to prospective members who need information about their decision to join, fielded by Member Education Manager Javon Johnson. He spoke about new material for new member orientation as part of deepening education about labor unions for actors and stage managers. 

The next question was about how creating more union jobs in tandem with the growth of union membership. 

Gabler spoke on the issue, including reminding members of the “How to Hire Me” letter, which provides guidance on how non-union theatres may hire members on Equity contract. 

“It is a foot in the door with those theatres,” she said. "And we've seen many, many of those theatres go from, ‘Hey I didn't ever know I could hire an Equity actor or stage manager,’ to ‘Now I'm doing it regularly,’ to deciding that they actually want to be an Equity theatre. And that helps us get more work for everyone, so we expect more of that is going to happen as more non-members become members and the employers who cast them or hire stage managers are going to be interested in still having their work. And we expect a lot of the work will follow, because that has been our experience in the past.” 

Another question asked how the increased finances from an uptick in members would be distributed within the union, and if it would be especially dedicated towards more diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

Griffin noted that initiation fees are a “drop in the bucket” for union finances, and that most of its income comes from working dues. 

“We don't want to relegate D&I initiatives to a value that's not particularly substantial,” she added. 

Another question asked if other labor unions would allow members to join without proof of prerequisite skills in its respective industry and instead focus on being broadly representative of a general population. 

Bellinger responded, noting that supposing all things being equal a particular minority group would still be underrepresented assumes that marginalized groups are less prepared. 

“The other thing that I want to point out is that there is no objective measure as to what is preparation in the theatre," he went on. “If you're doing a production of Spring Awakening, you have a bunch of teenagers you're offering contracts in Equity production. You're offering contracts to folks who are younger, who don't have that built up their résumés, who maybe haven't even made it all the way through a program at this point. At the same time, there are folks who are getting their cards after a 30-year career of working in non-union leaders and doing amazing work. There is no objective measure, as opposed to: ‘This is how you put this thing together, these are the standards that are in place.’ 

“We work in an artistic field, and because of that everything is a little bit more gray; what is great art what makes a great artist is never black and white... At any given point our employers can hire anyone on an Equity contract, we are now giving those folks the opportunity to say for themselves, ‘I deserve protections and I deserve equal payments to people standing next to me,’ and I think that's the important part of it.” 

The next question was about aspiring councilors rebuilding trust with Equity’s membership. Bellinger responded, encouraging members to observe council meetings. 

“The way that we move forward in terms of our council is holding our councilors accountable, and the way to do that is to educate yourself on their stances, and not just their statements, but also what they do in the room, how they speak in a room.” 

There were multiple questions about how to sign up through Open Access. National Director of Membership John Fasulo shared the intake form that is on Equity’s website, and explained some ways that a new member can demonstrate they have worked professional in the theatre before. Griffin added that prospective members who performed stage manager duties under a different job title could still be eligible. 

Another question was about plans to partner with other organizations to recruit to members. Griffin said yes, and noted that while those partnerships are not yet public, members can reach out to Gail Gabler with additional suggestions. 

Griffin grouped a series of questions about the EMC program and theatre education together. Gabler spoke about the Entry to Equity Committee that organizes outreach presentations to teach students about what labor unions do, as well as future plans to partner with universities as part of the permanent expansion of membership. 

Griffin concluded by noting that members should continue to reach out with questions: 

“We have a long road ahead to becoming an organization that really creates belonging in all people and I'm excited to keep pushing.”

Members who wish to access the full video or transcript of the event can do so through the member portal.