Latinx Files: This Latinx Equal Pay Day, we should all act

On a crisp Friday morning in late September, more than 100 excited Latino actors and their allies – hotel workers, steelworkers, teachers, Teamsters and more – stand outside Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. The crowd began to gather, and the crowd shook the venue by blasting reggaeton. The rubber Chanclas swings violently in the air.

Together they chanted the punchy three-syllable phrase “¡Pá-ga-me!”

Their slogan, translated as “Pay Me,” was a rallying cry for Latinos who were overworked, underpaid and fed up with a system that earned them an average of 52 cents nationally for every dollar earned. White non-Hispanic male.

The demonstration served as a lively pre-game for this year’s Latina Equal Pay Day, which will take place on Thursday, October 5th. The event was organized by Latinas Act Up, with support from the nonprofit organization Justice for Migrant Women. SAG-AFTRA, or Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Although the writers’ strike fruitfully ended on September 24th, the actors have continued to seek contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers since July 14th. The negotiating committee has requested a number of negotiations. Changes include higher wages, residuals from streaming services, and protections for the use of AI in portrait reproduction.

Latinas Acting Up began as a Friday meet-up series hosted by actors Diana Maria Riva and Lisa Vidal. (Both gained attention for their 2003 play “Chasing Papi.”) Vidal, who served as co-captain with Riva at last Friday’s rally, previously served as SAG-AFTRA’s national director for more than a decade. However, she was only one of three Latinas there. At the table.

“I’ve met many beautiful young artists who are so hopeless and depressed. It’s hard to be here. [in L.A.] “I was alone without my family,” said Vidal, who started acting at a young age and went on to appear on TV shows “ER,” “The Division” and “The Baker and the Beauty.” It was during the Friday gathering that she and Riva began mobilizing the group as a coalition of powerful Latin Americans with a visible voice in Hollywood, helping to empower a new generation of talent. Ta.

Riva pointed out that while the standard federal Equal Pay Day is March 14, Latin America’s Equal Pay Day is October 5. In 2022, the average income of working women of all races and ethnicities was 77 cents for every dollar earned by white men. Arts and entertainment alone added up to her 85 cents. The difference in dates is proportional to the wage gap.

“It takes [Latinas] “It takes almost two years to get paid as much as a white man gets in one paycheck.” said Riva, who appeared in the series “The Gordita Chronicles.”

Before working with the actors, Monica Ramirez, a lawyer and founder of Justice for Immigrant Women, wasn’t sure if their goals were aligned. The daughter of a farm worker, she found the stories told in Hollywood far removed from her rural hometown of The Plains, Ohio.

“‘Stand and Deliver’ was one of the first movies.” [in which] “We felt represented,” she said. “I was a senior in high school when Univision was first established in my town. Hearing Spanish on TV was something that didn’t happen in Ohio.”

Director Ramirez began noticing the unsettling parallels between the people who work in the fields and those who work in the fields, starting with Latino farmworkers at Time’s Up, a fundraising organization for victims of sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood. I was drafting “Dear Sisters,” a letter of solidarity to the “Dear Sisters.” In entertainment. Like the farmworkers Ramirez helps organize, actors are often subjected to low pay and long hours. They are also at risk of wage theft, discrimination and violence in the workplace.

“For me, it doesn’t make sense to compare which is worse,” Ramirez says. “We are all touched by the work of farmworkers. Now we are working with women in Hollywood to help people understand that we have a common struggle.” It is working.”

Part of that mission included expanding the scope of pay gap research. In partnership with the National Asia Pacific Workers Forum, Justice for Immigrant Women targets those who work full-time, year-round, as well as those employed in part-time, freelance, temporary, and seasonal jobs. We took into account survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau, including people living in the United States. .

The Adjusted Pay Gap Report shows that there are 27 million more women than last year’s survey, but at the same time the national average income for Latinx women has also declined, from 54 cents in 2021 to 52 cents in 2022. decreased to cents. Numbers are shrinking for women in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. The person who reported the earnings.

“Many women in Hollywood would not have been counted in previous studies,” Ramirez said. “While it is extremely important to fully reflect the reality of working Latina women, it is also important to recognize that data does not tell the whole story. We do not know the reality of all undocumented immigrants. We don’t know the reality of trans women. We don’t know the reality of women who are paid under the table.”

Award-winning actor Gina Torres, a regular on Suits and 9-1-1: Lone Star, arrived at the scene with a Cuban flag draped over her shoulder. Friday’s picket line was far from her first. “My father was a typesetter. [New York] I’ve been doing the Daily News for 26 years,” Torres said. “I was just a kid when the newspaper companies went on strike in the ’70s and ’80s, but it helped me understand the meaning of the struggle. A strong middle class is important for the economy, but We can see it declining.

“It’s powerful to see members from other unions here with us, because together we are cogs in the machine,” Torres continued. “There would be no machines without us. All we want is a small portion of the profits to be distributed to the people actually doing the work.”

If SAG-AFTRA can secure a fair contract with AMPTP, members of Latinas Acting Up hope to focus on expanding representation. In 2022, only 2.6% of lead and co-lead roles in film and television were played by Latinx actors. “Single digits is unacceptable,” Vidal said.

“Latinos from different cultures also need to support each other’s projects, whether it’s Dominican, Cuban or Mexican stories,” Riva said. “We, divided, do nothing. They do not see us. They pay no attention to us.”

“I want to see more diversity on camera, behind Cameras,” Torres added. “When I started my career, our stories and characters were often played by white actors. , produced and directed. United, we create a powerful force.”

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