Resources & Updates

Actors Equity has recently made changes to its governance and representational structure by introducing Equity Communities (details below). This change effectively allows regional member areas (formerly known as Liaison Areas) to form their own local, flexible leadership groups according to the needs of their members.

While this means there is no longer an official Liaison Committee for the Seattle Area, many of the local members who served on the Committee have chosen to unofficially maintain the existing Liaison Committee leadership structure.

The Community will still be lead by a local Member who is in direct communication and coordination with a National Councilor (who also happens to live here!), thus still ensuring our voices and concerns are heard by National Leadership.
We invite any and all members who wish to learn more about and participate in their local union to join us.

From AEA, March 24, 2022:

In October 2021, council approved sweeping committee reforms that created some expansive opportunities for inclusion. These reforms re-focused committees around union policy work and introduced Equity Communities, a new structure for members to come together around shared interests, demographics or other commonalities. In January 2022, council further expanded these reforms to include Communities that are geographically-based. These Communities are official, non-governance components of Equity and will take the place of current liaison structure with committees and regional CALA (Committee for Area Liaison Affairs).

This new structure will strengthen our national union and actively enhance communication while connecting members in these areas. Geographically-based Equity Communities will be created for all 28 of the liaison areas. These communities allow for members to participate with no cap on that participation, led by a rank-and file member from the area in coordination with a councilor or non-councilor Central Regional Board member.

Equity heard the liaison areas asking for broader leader participation and the ability to be flexible in building community. Under this new model, members can participate in areas where they do not live. A member who lives between two cities and works in both will be able to participate in both Communities.

While these liaison committees are evolving, we wanted to give members who did serve on committees the first opportunity to join the new Equity Communities for their area. If you’d like to be part of the leadership team of your Community, please be sure to let the Community leader know.

Dear Seattle Area Equity Members,

On April 25th, Actors Equity kicked off its first-ever National Convention. This 3-day event (held entirely via Zoom) was momentous in our union’s history, as it expanded representation beyond the office cities (NYC, Chicago, Orlando, LA) to reflect a broader, more inclusive segment of union Membership. Indeed, a large number of progressive, far-reaching resolutions were passed, including improved workplace safety and accountability standards, more equal representation for Stage Managers, and, perhaps most notably, the Black Theatre Matters bill.

[A full list of resolutions that passed can be found in the Member Portal.]

However, the end of the convention was marred by an unexpected and deeply troubling event, which led to a substantive walkout of delegates. A first-hand account confirms what many delegates witnessed in the final minutes of the last day of the convention. These accounts describe a racially-motivated attack on a Black delegate by an anonymous complainant.

This event, while witnessed by many in attendance, involved “behind-the-scenes” actions that were (and remain) not disclosed to the majority of the Convention participants, including those representatives from the Seattle Liaison area. As of this writing, the full details of this harmful event have not been adequately addressed by Equity leadership to its local representatives or the general Membership.

[Equity President Kate Shindle’s statement may be viewed via the Member Portal.]

By failing to provide sufficient perspective on this issue in a timely manner, Equity leadership has positioned itself as an impediment to accountability and implicitly casts doubt on the lived experiences of those directly harmed by toxic behavior. We recognize that silence is essential to the very nature of systemic oppression and cannot be tolerated.

As members of the Seattle Area Liaison committee, we want to be very clear that we stand in solidarity with our Black members and all marginalized voices against the racist actions that occurred during the Convention. To that end:

• We add our voices to the growing national movement to demand safe and equitable spaces for all - prior to returning to work.

• We acknowledge the labor of the BIPOC artists of anti-racist organizations such as We See You White American Theatre, Broadway for Racial Justice, Seattle Black Theatre Artists, and others on the local and national level.

• We pledge to hold our national union leaders and our local institutions accountable to the racial equity statements made over the last year and to speak up loudly when those statements are not honored.

• We realize a commitment to anti-racism isn’t simply a switch that, once flipped, makes everything better. Anti-racism is The Work. It is a journey and a process of becoming.

• We pledge transparency to you, the Seattle Area Membership, and our entire community in our efforts to create and promote safe spaces for all.

As always, we welcome your input and involvement in this process as the very Members that our union is mandated to support and protect. Contact us at seattle@actorsequity.org with any questions or concerns, or join us at one of our regular members-only social events.

In solidarity,

[signed]

The Seattle AEA Liaison Committee

May 16, 2021