Seeing Actors Supporting Actors (or An Awesome Union Working Project)

For almost the entire time I’ve been a part of Union Working, our big goal was to work on the next commercial contract negotiation. It’s a very important issue for actors right now as we want to see our commercials remain union. Working under a union contract guarantees so many things for actors and we want those guarantees and protections. And while there is still work do to before the negotiations start soon, we are seeing the results of some of that work now.

While most of us in Union Working are middle class actors (or just starting out), we have been so lucky to have some A-list celebrities who are just as concerned as we are about things happening in our industry. Many of them wanted to make sure they could voice their concern for the issue as well as their support for their fellow union members. Some of the leaders of Union Working have been filming these actors so they could help the cause and the first video was just posted on our YouTube channel.

I know that some people who aren’t in the entertainment industry aren’t as familiar with the issues of the working actor, but I can give a good example of why working union is important.

I did a non-union commercial in 2007 for a hair care product. I don’t exactly remember how much I made, but it was about $1,000 which seemed amazing for a day of work. I was so excited about it and didn’t think too much about it being non-union. When you do a commercial, you can’t do another commercial that conflicts with it (so you can’t have a Coke and Pepsi commercial running at the same time). When you work union, there is a length of time they are allowed to run your commercial and if they want to extend it they have to pay you to do so. That’s not the case for non-union work. My $1,000 seemed amazing when I made it in 2007. It’s not as amazing when that commercial is still airing today and I haven’t made another penny from it. If this was a union project and they wanted to air it for over 10 years, I would be getting paid continuously for it in holding fees and residuals. I know that many non-union commercials are not ones that can run in perpetuity like mine is, but it’s still a possibility.

I have shared this story about my non-union commercial many times with actor friends. I feel like it’s important for actors to know what risks they are taking if they want to work non-union. I wish someone had explained it to me because I would have been smarter about things. I probably would have still done the project, but I might have asked about adding a line in my contract to change it from being able to run forever to having an end date. There’s no guarantee I could have gotten that change made, but I would have liked to have been educated about what I was getting myself into.

This is not to say that non-union work is bad. Everyone starts out somewhere and the experiences I’ve had when I was a non-union actor have been invaluable. But I also understand the benefit of working union and I am proud of what our union has gotten us as actors. I also have become much more aware of what all unions have done for their members. So I want to support union work as much as I can. And when commercials are only going non-union sometimes to save the corporations making them a little bit of money, that doesn’t seem right. I understand that companies have to save money on some things, but I don’t think it should be at the expense of working class people trying to make a living. I think most people agree that when companies don’t give their employees a raise but will give their executives raises that it’s not right. Or it’s not right for companies to encourage their full time employees to go on food stamps or other subsidies to help them afford the cost of living. Employees deserve a fair wage and that is exactly what actors are asking for.

I know some people probably roll their eyes at us and think that we don’t have a right to complain, but there are working class actors just like there are working class employees in other industries. When you don’t know when you are going to work again, it’s important to make sure you are making what you deserve. Working class actors aren’t making millions of dollars a year. Some of us make $5,000 a year from actors. Many of us make less than that. And we do supplement our acting income from our day jobs, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t deserve what we make when we do get to act.

I am so proud of the video that Union Working made and the actors that have been participating in the project. I love seeing actors helping each other out at all levels of success and I am so grateful that we have some incredible talent on our side looking out for us.

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