Sterling K. Brown, Ava DuVernay and Jane Fonda are among thousands of people who signed an open letter calling on the entertainment industry for gender pay equality for production workers.
“It’s time for the Entertainment Industry to take a hard look at its pay and compensation practices above and below the line to make sure all productions meet the legal — and moral — requirement to pay fairly without discrimination,” says the letter, which will be delivered to the heads of major studios, networks and production companies.
Entertainment union IATSE hired Working IDEAL to evaluate the gender wage bias in four female-dominated crafts in film and television production. The study, which was completed in January 2018, showed a history of gender segregation and stereotyping, along with wage disparity of “hundreds or even thousands of dollars per week less than counterparts in comparable male-dominated crafts.”
The letter also notes that “by reducing women’s economic security and power, the persistent gender pay gap in our industry makes it harder for women to challenge the harassing and abusive behavior that the #MeToo movement and the launch of Times Up have brought to public light.”
It says, “In the current age of #MeToo and the launching of Times Up we have seen that some production companies have moved to correct gender-based wage inequality for actors working on the same projects, but there has not been any similar effort made to address wage gaps for those working behind the scenes. … It is time for real change.”
The letter is endorsed by the ACLU and several other groups. Other signatories include Charlie Day, Don Cheadle, Dan Fogelman, Mandy Moore, John C. Riley, Wanda Sykes, Aisha Tyler and more.
You can read the letter (and add your name if you wish) here.