
With theatres open again and hopes rising that they will remain so, Equity is focussing on supporting actors as they return to work in the months ahead. “Our whole approach as we look towards the winter is based on a lack of confidence in the government,” says General Secretary Paul W Fleming, highlighting that 40% of members went unsupported during the shutdown. The union seeks to avoid a repeat of that scenario and get actors back to work with a mix of tactics, outlined in brief here.
Updates on Equity’s Agreements
Equity’s agreements are crucial for its members. They seek to regulate the relationship between members and producers by setting minimum rates of pay and the corresponding working conditions.
Since the closure of theatres in March 2020, Equity temporarily varied the three agreements it has with: the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre in the West End; the Subsidised Sector; and in the Commercial Theatre outside the West End.
Fleming explains: “Our objective has been to get our members back to work as soon as we can in a safe way. We have made a series of variations to the standard terms and conditions which mean that there is a degree of flexibility to allow producers to deal with coronavirus outbreaks in casts, or localised lockdowns, as well as testing regimes and other health and safety measures. The aim is to remain flexible enough in our terms to keep things open.”
The major variation actors need to be aware of is that if a producer closes a show on the basis of coronavirus, they do not have to pay the actors for the lost performances. However, as Fleming points out this has yet to happen in the West End, and Equity is currently lobbying the government to implement financial support for those working in the sector in the event of a further lockdown.
The variations agreement will be reviewed in January, though Fleming adds they are more likely to be changed again April, depending on how the winter progresses. In the meantime you can read more about the changes here.
Equity’s Efforts to Protect Actors
Fleming highlights other lobbying efforts Equity is currently making to guard against a further shutdown. “We are supporting campaigns to get people to wear masks in shops and on public transport being run by our sister trade unions in those areas. Frankly if people do that they keep theatres open, because those are areas of massive transmission.”
Equity is also offering former members who left during the past 18 months the opportunity to rejoin without paying a joining fee, and Fleming is hopeful that it will reopen its benevolent fund for welfare grants in January (it has already given out £1.3million in grants).
The union also oversees the distribution of royalties to actors, and has “ramped up” efforts to distribute these more regularly. Fleming says they are also focussing on the film and TV industries, which provided vital work while theatres were closed. “We want to make sure that alternative sources of work in recorded media remain open. The government’s done a really good thing by providing government-backed insurance, and we are lobbying for that to continue.”
Why should you join Equity?
As an actor entering the industry you could be forgiven for wondering whether paying the Equity membership fee (which starts at £142 per year and is graded by income level – more info here). Unlike the olden days, pre-1990, there is no longer a requirement for professionals to join.
However, Fleming says the benefits are still worth it. “I think we've all gone through the most miserable 18 months imaginable. But it’s made the systemic inequalities in the industry more obvious, and motivated more people to want to change them. That is the best reason to be a member of Equity right now, because the question is who will rebuild the industry after coronavirus, will it be the workforce or the bosses, who implemented those structural inequalities in the first place? So don’t sit there and feel despondent, because together as a collective we can genuinely make the industry a better place than it was in March 2020.”
Read our full guide to joining Equity
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