Arts, Entertainment, and Media Unions Launch Updated DEI Policy Priorities for the 118th Congress
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Katie Barrows
Communications Director
P: 202-549-5991
kbarrows@dpeaflcio.org
WASHINGTON, March 21, 2023 - Today, unions of professionals in the arts, entertainment, and media industries affiliated with the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) announced their updated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy agenda for the 118th Congress. The policy agenda’s legislative priorities are centered around creating diverse talent pipelines, incentivizing diversity in hiring, and strengthening creative professionals’ workplace rights.
“Union professionals in the arts, entertainment, and media industries remain committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said DPE President Jennifer Dorning. “The updated DEI policy agenda for the 118th Congress allows union creative professionals to continue building off gains made in collective bargaining that provide for more inclusive, representative industries.”
DPE and its 12 affiliated unions with members in the arts, entertainment, and media industries first released their DEI policy agenda in 2021. In the last Congress, union creative professionals advanced many parts of the agenda, including a meaningful increase in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the establishment of chief diversity officer positions at each agency.
The DEI policy agenda for 118th Congress includes additional legislative priorities, like restoring tax fairness for creative professionals and addressing systemic barriers to careers in arts, entertainment, and media. Still, passing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, the American Music Fairness Act, and the Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act; reforming Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; and creating federal tax incentives that will encourage more inclusive hiring remain core components of the policy agenda.
“The arts, entertainment, and media industries are becoming more diverse and inclusive thanks to the efforts of union professionals at the bargaining table and in the halls of power. However, we realize this work is not finished, which is why we remain committed to pushing for smart policy solutions that will help continue to move the creative industries forward and allow creative professionals of historically marginalized communities to realize the full value of their skills and talents,” said Dorning.
The unions supporting 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 DPE
The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) is a coalition of 24 unions representing over four million professional and technical union members. DPE affiliate unions represent professionals in over 300 occupations in education and healthcare; science, engineering, and technology; legal, business, and management; media, entertainment, and the arts; and public administration.