Browbeating, Lies, Exaggeration, Misinforming...The Union's scare tactics.

This has been on my mind for a while now and I've been going back and forth on whether or not to post it.  I probably should have stood up that night and grabbed the microphone and spoke up, but I felt I was in a room of witch hunters and any thought to the contrary would be ignited.

I recently went to one of the entertainment Unions' membership meetings.  (If you're quick, you can figure out which one, but I wont name it here.)  It was long.  Boring.  Full of information that did not pertain to me and uninformed people asking questions like..."I heard from a friend that such and such.."  Which were all shot down as untuths.  I mean, we all know that rumors are usually not true.  And in this case none of them were.  Mostly rumors pertaining the the merging of two of the biggest entertainment unions in the country.

Oh we had some laughs though.  A Mr. Calamari...that's his real name, rambled on for quite some time unintelligibly until the moderator smiled and said, "thank you."  Because what else can you do when a crazy person drones on for a while without a real question or ending in site.  And old, from what I can tell..Willie Nelson impersonator, would yell from time to time, "Speak into the mic!" To which one time he got the reply, "If I was any closer it would be down my throat."  Thanks for the mental image old guy.  Thanks.

One of the major topics was online piracy.  Oh online piracy. I don't think I've ever been more ashamed of intelligent adults in my life.  At least in the month of November.

The person leading the meeting, the vice president apparently, shouted at all of us a slew of distorted facts and just flat out lies.  We were told that our work, as film and tv actors, is being downloaded by people all over the world.  And when we go online and download movies, tv shows, the sites make money off of this, can capture our information and sell it on the black market. What the hell is wrong with you buddy.  No offense, but the mean age of the population of the meeting was over 60.  If not then some people my age have not aged well.  So an older population who probably don't spend as much time online as the rest of us, nor are as savvy as the rest of us with the onlining and the interwebs and the facebooking.  So you've just scared your first group of people into believing what you say.  First of all, no one bit torrents anymore.  (what he was alluding to about the downloading.)  Almost all media is streamed right to your lap top or whatever device you have.  So no.  You're not downloading anything.  No one is getting your information.  You're watching something on a pirated site.  Ok, so, that's bad.  But you're safe from attackers.

(Talking to my grandparents, it seams that most of the older generation is afraid of the internet because of identity theft and hacking accounts.  Basically privacy and security.  So of course this guy hit home with his fer mongering.)

Next, said sites make money. Sure.  Adsense by Google is amazing.  It's on this blog as a matter of fact.  I've made....nothing with it, but who really visits this blog? The VP made it out that Adsense is an evil company.  Well...It's Google. So take that as you will.  (He made it seam like they were 2 different companies)  He then proceeded to vilify Google for placing adds on these pirate sites.  Well.  No. You can't do that.  Google doesn't care what's on your site so much.  There is an agreement you sign, but they're hands off.  Ads are just put up by the site owner.  Not google.  So now a whole room full of people hate Google and think that people in Russia have their SS#'s and bank accounts.  True story.

Then he lays into Netflix.  Saying how it's also doing the same thing and people are downloading (again...wrong) our work as actors and we're not seeing money for it.  Well.  I hate to tell you this, but those contracts you negotiate for us? Yeah, we sign away our work to the studio, producer, who ever owns the piece.  So they can do whatever they want with it.  And if they want Netflix to stream it to the world well then there it is.  You've already been compensated.  Stop whining.

People were complaining about Netflix and you tube and hulu.  How their work, shows and films they've been in are online for people to see and they don't see any money.  Of course not.  You've already seen that money.  The people who own the films are displaying it just like they're allowed according to the contracts. Be happy people are watching your work.

So to sum it up.  A room full of approx 250 people hate Google, hate adsense (that weird ad company that they don't know is Google), hate Netflix and youtube and hulu, and think Russion computer geniuses are going to sell their info on the black market.  You know, in the booth next to where they sell babies.


On top of that...yes it gets worse..his ranting had a positive side.  He made almost a room full of people FOR  the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House of Representatives.  He said how good thes legislature are.  THESE ARE BAD pieces of legislature.  The best explanation I've found is here down below.  Watch it.  be educated and spread the word.

SAG, Waivers, Vouchers and Union joys..

I in no way claim to be an expert on any of this.  Afterall, survival job/creative income/web design..all that stuff.

There, that was my disclaimer.  So this post is inspired by numerous conversations with friends, colleagues, anyone and everyone about joining a union.   If something is wrong, please let me know and I'll adjust the info.

So SAG.
There are so many questions surrounding this union.  And all unions.  I'm hoping to use this as a way to clarify.

How do I join sag?

There are a few ways to join the union.  Its not like AFTRA where you can just buy in. Nor is it like other workers unions where you have to be nominated by a member.  No no no. SAG makes you earn your member ship.  The first way, and way most people join is buy earning vouchers.
What's a voucher?  Well..here we go.

There are Vouchers and Waivers.  

This is a VOUCHER:

For every SAG production, there must be a certain number of union background members before they can use non-union.  Lets say the number is 20 for "imaginary Epic Film Project."  Now, if only 19 of those union members show up, the production crew HAVE to make a non union person union for the day.  How is this accomplished?  They give you a voucher.  This DOES NOT MEAN YOU'RE SAG.  It means for that day you were given SAG status.  Just for that day.  Yes it includes SAG wages as well.

You may see on notices that are seeing SAG and NON SAG that it will say..SAG RATE/WAGES for non-union.  This does not mean you'll be getting paid the SAG rate as a NON SAG member.  This means you'll be getting paid SAG's NON UNION rate.  Which is about $70 something a day.  79?  Something like that.  This came up on the last project I worked.  If you're hired as NON UNION, they're not going to throw money at you.  So be aware of that.

Now, this has to happen 3 times in order to make you eligible.  THREE!!  Again, you need three WAIVERS, and they're cumulative.  It could take a few months, weeks, or years.  It's completely random.  The ones I have I was called in specifically because of a certain look I have.  So I knew going in I was getting a voucher.  Makes it easy.  But that's not how it always works, obviously.

Now whats that WAIVER thing I mentioned before?: 

This is for all you SAG members who are looking to work on student films or indies.  Almost all student films allow SAG members to work for them penalty free.  Not all.  But most.  And some independent films.  Since they're so low budget they can't afford the union's day rate, so you get a waiver that does what it says...waives all the perks of being SAG.  But you're not going against your union.  It's just like an Equity Showcase code for stage actors.

So thats the first way.  And the main way most people join the Union.  It's tedious and takes a long time and a lot of patience, but SAG here you come.

Hey brother can you spare a TAFT HARTLEY?

You've probably heard this term bandied around a bit, it comes from the 1940's when labor unions were up in arms trying to right the many wrongs that were being done to the workers.  No one was safe, not even we actors.  What does it mean for an actor?  It means that if you, as a NON UNION actor are cast as a performer in a main role, supporting, anything with a line, and are paid for that work, you are considered  SAG ELIGIBLE.  Look at that.  Easy peasy.  Sure it doesn't happen that often, but it happens.  There are numerous anecdotes about how this act has been played out.  I know I read an article once where the lead actress came into a room and said good morning to a NON UNION BG actor.  Of course being NON, didn't have any lines.  Well after doing multiple takes all day, the Actress finally said, he needs to say good morning back.  A person would say good morning, they wouldn't ignore you.  At this point it was too late to switch in a union BG actor since they'd been filming all day.  Mr Lucky duck NON UNION?  Tafted.  Bam. Now after 30 day's he would have to either join, or stop working on UNION films.  This way forces your hand a little.  The VOUCHER method gives you the option to get as many as you like and stay NON as long as you like.  Taft Hartley rarely happens, but is another way to become a member of SAG.  There is a fine that the production has to pay for this to happen, which isn't too hefty, but still something to be avoided,  hence why it rarely happens.

I wanna Join too, here's some money!!!

The third way, which is probably the second most common, is the buy in method.  Some Unions, like AFTRA will happily take your money and BAM...union.  Not SAG, but AFTRA.  What does this mean for you, you potential SAG or even EQUITY member?  Well after a year, as long as you're a member in good standing and have filled that particular UNION's criteria, you can just buy in to the other UNIONS.  You're now eligible.  The criteria, i believe is 3 background credits, or one principle credit. My AFTRA credit is principle, so you know where I'll be in a year.  It's pretty simple.  But also takes time.  It's because they all consider themselves sister unions.  Sometime long ago, they were all sitting around drinking, crochetting on the train, something, and decided, they should join forces to help eachother out.  Join 1, in a year you can join em all.  it's a win win for the unions and for you.

I'm going to add to this as more info comes in and is made clearer.  I'm sure I missed some aspects, or potentially got something wrong.  But these are the basic ways people become union.

good luck!