Unions

Joining a union as an actor is not a quick decision. The first thing that every actor should know is that there are three different unions representing three different acting fields.

Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) represents theatrical actors and stage managers.

AFTRA (The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) represents its members in 1) news and broadcasting; 2) entertainment programming; 3) the recording business; and, 4) commercials and non-broadcast, industrial, educational media.

SAG, the Screen Actors’ Guild represents film actors.

Joining any one of the unions can provide great benefits such as health care and access to a credit union, but there are some drawbacks.

One of the major mistakes young professionals make is that they join a union before they are ready. Once you join a union, you can only work at union jobs. But that means at every audition, you are going up against actors with a lot of experience. Don't get caught in this trap. Wait until your career is in a solid position before you take this step. I was offered an Equity card in my last year of grad school, but I turned it down because I knew that a couple of the companies that I was lined up to work with weren't Equity. I waited until I was sure that I wanted to be working for an Equity company and that I had enough experience that an Equity company would be interested in hiring me.

Another hurdle is the initiation fee. AEA use to have the smallest fee, but it has now increased to $1,000. You have two years to pay it off, but that is still a lot of money. And they don't take credit cards. The regular dues for AEA are only $98 for the year, plus 2% of your salary whenever you are signed to an Equity contract.

This used to be a great bargain. The health plan alone was worth it, but things have changed. It used to be that to qualify for health insurance, an actor only had to work ten weeks a year under an Equity contract. Due to the recession and the rising cost of health care, it is much harder now. If an actor works twelve weeks under an Equity contract, they now qualify for only SIX MONTHS of health care. To get a year's worth of health care, an actor must now work TWENTY weeks. Finding twenty weeks of Equity work is hard! (Since I am a member of Equity, I feel qualified to talk specifically about it. SAG and AFTRA have similar policies, but to find out specifics, visit their websites.)

The point of all this is to think carefully before you join a union. It feels great to carry that card and feel that you've made it, but it can also be a burden. Assess where you are in your career carefully before you make your decision.