ACTORS UNION FILES GREVIANCES CLAIMING UNEQUAL TREATMENT OF BIPOC MEMBERS.

Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: A Canadian actors' union has filed grievances against two production associations, claiming unequal treatment of BIPOC performers in hair and makeup services on sets.
Eleanor Noble, national president of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists — or ACTRA — told on Thursday that its members who are Black, Indigenous or people of colour regularly show up for work on set to find hair and makeup artists who are unprepared to work on their hair or skin tones. 
"We brought this to our negotiations and in the end we decided to file a grievance. We realize there is systemic discrimination on hair and makeup, and while it's an industry issue it's also a huge societal issue," Noble said. "Being treated equally, anywhere, is a fundamental human right."
Among other demands, ACTRA wants all hairstylists and makeup artists on productions be adequately trained to work with all performers — regardless of skin tone, facial structure or hair texture — and provide a full range of products and equipment on set.

Common experiences
Toronto actor Samora Smallwood — originally from Mount Pearl, N.L. — told hair and makeup problems on sets have been talking points among BIPOC performers for years
From actors having their wigs "pushed back" by an untrained hairstylist — clipping their hairlines far from their foreheads — to makeup artists who don't get skin tones correct, she said, BIPOC performers share common experiences

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