As Actors’ Equity gears up for a new round of contract negotiations, organization president Brooke Shields made an impassioned call for Broadway industry improvements on Wednesday.
The actress appeared alongside Equity Executive Director Al Vincent, Jr., AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and more at a rally in Times Square Pedestrian Plaza, calling out the need for contracts with better healthcare, improved scheduling and more.
“Those people who make these shows come to life eight times a week, they’re busting their ass for you,” she said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “They really are.”
Shields specifically cited the need for “protection when we get hurt,” speaking on her own experiences of performing while injured, before advocating for more than just Broadway actors.
“Our stage managers don’t have swings. They get sick, they have to still come to work. It’s too much,” she said. “We need safer staffing practices. We need fair-share money going into our health insurance.”
According to Actors’ Equity, the rally was “part of a nationwide campaign to provide voice to and build power with workers in the two months leading up to Labor Day.”
“While politicians sow chaos in the lives of working people and big corporations profit off our backs, working people across the country and unions are fighting back,” the organization said in a description of the event.
The current contracts expire next month, making this round of negotiations the first for production contracts under Shields as president, as she took over the position in May of last year.
