Equity delegates raised low pay and challenged policy-making in the region at the TUC North East, Yorkshire and Humber conference, 21-22 March at Redhills, Durham.
This year, the Equity delegates were Arisha Jane Marsh from Equity's South Yorkshire branch and David Rodgers from Equity's North and West Yorkshire branch.
Equity's first motion to conference focused on One Creative North, a partnership of Mayors, Public Service Broadcasters, Arts Council England and others to grow the creative sectors. The motion called for greater involvement of Equity and sister unions in the work of the partnership body.
Equity's second motion targeted low pay and poor conditions in the creative industries. It highlighted the challenges many performers face in terms of pay, opportunities and conditions, including an advert from West Yorkshire Police that sought ‘volunteer actors’ to do role play work that should have paid between £100 and £250; performers denied the chance to get off a train for 8 hours in order to ‘protect the magic of Christmas’; and voiceover actors delivering warm and compassionate audio being replaced by robotic Artificial Intelligence to save £150 on safety videos.
Both motions were passed unanimously and will now form part of the TUC North East, Yorkshire and Humber's agenda for the coming year.
