Actors’ Equity Moves Into Politics With PAC

The Actors’ Equity Association is forming its own political action committee. The union that represents more than 51,000 stage managers and actors will be launching the PAC in the first week of April, with the goal of contributing money to federal candidates who support Actors’ Equity priorities. These include more arts funding, expanded health care coverage, protecting the right to organize and specific entertainment legislation such as the Performing Artists Tax Parity Act, which raises the income ceiling for artists to deduct certain performance-related expenses. The PAC will be a separate organization from the union and contributions will be voluntary (and not taken out of dues paid to the union). It joins a few other entertainment unions with PACs, including the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the American Federation of Musicians, the Writers Guild of America West and the Directors Guild of America.

Actors’ Equity wanted to have the organization in place ahead of the 2024 election. There’s concern that funding for the arts may face further cuts. The union also sees an opportunity to help flip U.S. House seats in New York that went to Republican candidates in the most recent election and perhaps revert control of the House back to the Democrats. “Every cycle is important. 2024 is going to be heightened. And we want to make sure that we get pro-worker candidates elected who care about arts workers and workers in general,” says Al Vincent Jr., executive director of Actors’ Equity.

For more than a century, the union had a policy in place that prohibited endorsing political candidates. In 2016 it reversed the policy and made its first presidential endorsement, for Hillary Clinton. It then endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The union became more involved in politics during the pandemic, as Actors’ Equity lobbied for COBRA and pandemic unemployment subsidies for its workers as well as additional funding for the National Endowment for the

Arts. During that time, Actors’ Equity, like other theatrical unions, found that many lawmakers had an appreciation for the arts, says president of Actors’ Equity Kate Shindle, but did not understand theater’s economic impact in terms of number of workers it employs, as well as the residual tourism dollars it brings to New York City and other communities with touring Broadway shows. Shindle adds, “Throughout COVID, institutionally it became very clear that we couldn’t just sit on the sidelines and say, ‘We’re the arts.’ It’s pretty near impossible to pretend as if we live in an apolitical world as long as we are onstage. We’re still workers.”

Shindle