Arts, Entertainment and Media Unions Announce Legislative Push to Advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

WASHINGTON — Today, the arts, entertainment, and media unions affiliated with the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) announced their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy agenda during a digital press conference with union leaders, staff, and members. The DEI policy agenda details the legislative action the unions will urge members of Congress to support to help make their industries more representative. 

“Diversity is a strength,” said DPE President Jennifer Dorning. “Creative professionals and their unions know this, and continue to prioritize making their industries more accessible to underrepresented people. Advocating for policy changes at the national level is a natural continuation of the work arts, entertainment, and media unions have been doing to advance DEI in their creative industries.”

The DEI policy agenda seeks to support middle class careers, through passing legislation like the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, the AM-FM Act, and reforming Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The policy agenda also centers on increasing funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Corporation for Public Broadcasting to support the opportunities needed to create wide and diverse talent pipelines. With states like Illinois, New Jersey, and New York leading the way on enacting tax incentives to encourage diverse hiring, the policy agenda lifts up these states as examples to create federal tax incentives that will spur more inclusive hiring in film, television, and live entertainment.

“We look forward to working with members of Congress and their offices to make these smart policy solutions a reality,” said Dorning.    

The unions putting forth this DEI policy agenda include:

• Actors’ Equity Association
• American Federation of Musicians
• American Guild of Musical Artists
• American Guild of Variety Artists
• Directors Guild of America
• Guild of Italian American Actors
• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
• Office and Professional Employees International Union 
• Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists 
• Stage Directors and Choreographers Society 
• Writers Guild of America, East

About SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.