EquityUK - 2017 Committee Elections - why you should vote.
June 19, 2017
It's an Equity Election. This time it's for members who are going to represent us on the various Equity Committees. There are Industrial, Specialist, Diversity and Regional Committees where candidates have put themselves forward with the intention of giving you a voice and to forward their own agenda to make the industry a better place to work in from their point of view.
Within Equity, every member is assigned to a constitutional register. Members can select additional registers where they feel the information communicated to those registers would be me professionally advantageous.
Then there are committees. All the registers are represented by one of the committees.
Here is a list of the constitutional registers.
Actor, Audio Artist, Children’s Entertainer, Choreographer, Chorus and Ensemble, Circus, Comedian, Dancer, Disabled Member, Ethnic Minority, Fire Performer, Ice-Skater, JISC Stunt Performers, Model, Opera Singer, Puppeteer, Singer, Stage Management, Street Performer, TV/Radio Announcer or Presenter, Theatre Designer, Theatre Director, Theatre, Fight Directors, Theatre Lighting Designer, Theatre in Education & Young People's Theatre, Variety, Walk-on and Supporting Artists.
To check which register you are listed under sign into the members' area of the Equity web site click "My Personal Details" in the left-hand navigation, scroll down to "interests" and click 'edit' in the respective purple banner.
The Committees accommodate the registers, they are:
Screen & New Media, Stage, Variety Circus & Entertainers, Audio, Dance, Directors & Designers, Singers, Stage Management, Northern Ireland, Scottish National, Welsh National, Deaf & Disabled Members, LGBT+, Minority Ethnic Members, Women's, Young Members.
It's time to vote for your representatives. Think of the Council as the MP's and the Committee members are like your local councillors. I guess that makes the SMT (senior management team) our civil servants!
The important thing is that if you are a member that you vote. The more members vote the stronger mandate the committees have to campaign on your behalf. Turnout is notoriously low for Equity Elections and although the result is the same, the committees get populated with the candidates with the most votes its can be demoralising as a committee member knowing that so few of your fellow members care about the direction of the union and yet all benefit from the negotiations that take place on their behalf or the campaigns carried out to improve the industry for everyone.
So please vote.
Voting can be done online. Voting closes at noon on Friday 14th July.
Direct link to cast your vote. You will need your ballot paper for your codes.