As probably most Daily Actor readers know, getting Screen Actors Guild (SAG) membership — and all its inherent benefits — is a major goal for any up-and-coming actor. American Federation of Television and Radio Arts (AFTRA) membership, however, has been open to anyone willing to pay the initiation fee.
With the impending merger of the two unions, however, actors will no longer to take advantage of the AFTRA open membership policy, and current and future members may have increased fees to worry about.
The Hollywood Reporter reveals that new members of the SAG-AFTRA union will have to fulfill a list of eligibility requirements that are similar to SAG’s current policies. Those reported requirements are:
1. Hired for a SAG (or, post-merger, SAG-AFTRA) principal role. This is the classic way for someone to get admitted to a union, and would be unchanged under SAG-AFTRA: the non-union actor get hired for a union job. This isn’t easy, because existing SAG members are theoretically first in line.
As soon as the actor books the job, he or she becomes “SAG Eligible.” Thirty days later, the actor becomes “SAG Must Join,” and can no longer work SAG jobs without joining the union. The union enforces this rule by requiring producers to verify the actor’s status by contacting the union, a procedure oddly called “Station 12.” There don’t seem to be any Stations 1 through 11.
(Alternatively, a SAG Must Join actor can elect the legally-protected “financial core” status, and pay slightly reduced dues without actually joining. Fi-core is an option that allows people to work union jobs and get the benefits of those jobs, such as residuals, but also them to work non-union despite SAG’s Global Rule 1 to the contrary (which is a rule that will largely survive the transition to SAG-AFTRA, at least for actors). For that reason, fi-core is despised by unions, but in any case it’s chosen by very few members of SAG or other entertainment unions. Another wrinkle: in “right to work” states – primarily conservative “red states” – people can’t be required to join a union even if they don’t go fi-core.)
2. Three days as a background performer in a SAG (or, post-merger, SAG-AFTRA) background role. In a SAG covered movie or a SAG (or AFTRA) covered TV show, a certain number of background positions are generally subject to union minimums and conditions; the remainder are not. A non-union actor who scores one of the SAG-covered positions gets a voucher attesting to that fact. Three vouchers and the performer can (and must) join the guild.
Critics say the so-called three voucher system is open to abuse, since assistant directors in practice have wide latitude in determining who gets the valuable union chits. Some want to loosen the rule, while many SAG background performers want the requirements tightened further. Although the system will survive the transition to SAG-AFTRA, there is apparently some board sentiment for later changing it.
3. Sister union membership. A performer who is a member of a performers union that’s part of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America – the archaic “Artistes” is not a typo – for at least a year and has had at least one principal role (e.g., not a background role, or extra) is eligible to join any other Four A’s union. Among those unions are SAG, AFTRA and Actor’s Equity. That reciprocity has made AFTRA’s open membership policy a route to SAG membership. If SAG and AFTRA merge, that relatively easy route disappears, although it will remain for members of Equity (which is not an open door union) or the several smaller, more specialized components of the Four A’s.
4. Employees of targeted employers. This one is new: if the SAG-AFTRA board decides to campaign for an employer to go union, it can decide to offer the employees union membership. This is apparently intended to address concerns of DJs, announcers, newspersons and sportscasters, who have operated to date under AFTRA’s open door membership policy and loosely-interpreted “No Contract, No Work” rule rather than SAG’s tighter membership requirements and stringent Global Rule 1.
In addition, the initiation fee to join will be $3000 — less than the previous combined fees (SAG charges $2,277 while AFTRA charges $1,600), but anyone who is currently a member of one of the unions can look forward to being grandfathered into the new combined union without paying the difference. The article does say though that if you’re already paid for both and are looking for your $877 refund… well, that probably not going to happen. There will also be annual dues at different rates depending on membership status (and members in smaller markets will potentially pay a lower initiation fee, too).
However, it’s probably not recommended to rush out and join AFTRA now in order to take advantage of the grandfather clause (and cheaper initiation fee): it’s possible that the merger will exclude them by a cutoff date, and, of course, aspiring actors who join either union too early in their careers can run the risk of being cutout from non-union work (under the infamous Global Rule One) when they don’t get have enough union work even if they do make it into SAG-AFTRA.
So what are your thoughts on the proposed merger and new rules?
