Julie Walters backs equal pay campaign

Julie Walters (Mrs. Weasley), alongside fellow actor David Morrissey (Doctor Who, The Other Boleyn Girl), has backed an Equity campaign to ensure that performers are paid properly for their work. Equity, a union that represents all kinds of performers across the UK, has been exploring the issue of poor pay since 2012. The campaign, called Professionally Made Professionally Paid, will

highlight the work the union has already done in this area – including the appointment of a dedicated low pay industrial organiser – and mobilise ‘members to resist low and no pay’.

The union’s campaign will emphasise the contracts it has in place for productions with low budgets, such as those on the fringe, and ‘educate members as to their rights’ to minimum wage.

On the campaign, Julie said,

I was able to get my career started because I had a full grant to go to college, but kids now don’t have those opportunities. If on top of that young actors are expected to work for years for free it shouldn’t be a surprise that there aren’t enough working class actors. It’s great that Equity is sending a clear message that professional work deserves professional pay, and I urge everyone in the industry to support the campaign.

Find out more about the campaign here.

Julie is about to star in a Channel Four drama called Indian Summers. Find out more and see a trailer for the show here.

What do you think about this new campaign? Are you a a performer in the UK? Do you feel passionate about this issue? Let us know in the comments.