Actors' Equity Association's Kate Shindle on Delay to Pass HEROES Act- '[It] Is an Insult to Every Working Person in America'

AFL-CIO AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka led labor leaders in a telephone press conference to discuss the importance of passing the HEROES Act to save the lives and livelihoods of America's workers. Millions of are suffering across the country and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has ignored a solution rooted in America's Five Economic Essentials for 83 days. Instead of putting the HEROES Act up for a vote, he continues to play politics.

Other highlights from the call:

"Every time we hear some salaried senator or representative paid for by our tax dollars say that $600 will discourage us from working is an insult to every working person in America and in our industry." -- Kate Shindle, President of Actors' Equity Association. "The Senate must act now to pass the HEROES Act."

"Working people are acting heroically and resiliently in the face of this pandemic-and we will beat this pandemic. But we can't do this alone. The stakes have never been higher. The urgency has never been greater. I'm a student of history. I love learning about events and movements but also the leaders and people who shaped them. One day, my grandchildren will read about what happened in America in 2020. And when they read about the crises this country faced, they will read that America's labor unions joined together and won a new day for working people and the communities we call home." -- AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka

"The HEROES Act is essential for the lives and livelihoods of the workers in the hospitality industry. The extra $600 unemployment benefit is essential for people to keep shelter and food on the table. Nobody's going to get rich on $600 a week, but maybe they can survive. In places like Florida where unemployment only lasts for 12 weeks, it's the only money people are going to get. We don't want to see a scenario where people are out on the street with no place to live and no food to eat." -- UNITE HERE! President D. Taylor

"I think I speak for my fellow union leaders when I say that I am out of patience. It is shocking and shameful and scandalous that the Senate still hasn't taken action. When voters feel the pain of lost jobless benefits, when they see longer emergency response times and trash piling up in their streets, when they see small businesses in their communities going under, when they face eviction or foreclosure, rest assured, they will know exactly whom to blame in the upcoming election." -- AFSCME President Lee Saunders

"We believe that multiemployer pension relief must be part of the HEROES Act because those most at risk of losing benefits in the pension crisis are the essential workers who have been working throughout this pandemic. Our Union will continue to put strong pressure on the Senate so we do not lose this valuable opportunity to protect the pensions of the very workers who continue to be essential to America's economy and wellbeing." -- BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton

Actors' Equity Association, founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers. Equity endeavors to advance the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits (health and pension included).