American Autumn and the Unions

Dr. Cornel West calls it the U.S. Autumn. 

For thirteen days, as of this writing, hundreds have been occupying Wall Street to protest what many see as an evolving plutocracy in the US.  Many of the occupiers have been angered at the dismissal of their movement by the corporate press.  (see Ginia Bellafante's article from the New York Times of September 23)  Many seem to automatically reject this movement for its lack of a centralized, organized center.  O.W.S. is grass roots in the strictest sense.  (unlike the so-called Tea Party, for example: an organization funded by large organizations attempting to appear as an upswell of popular rage)

A common canard (often heard these days in this anti-union climate) is that a labor union is but its own clunky organizational machinery, which serves to feed itself, rather than to facilitate and uplift the will of the group with common aims that formed it.  Local 100 of the Transit Workers Union or TWU, has joined O.W.S. So has Teamsters Local 814.    My hope is that all unions, including the performers' unions, Equity, SAG and AFTRA, will throw their support behind this movement.  After all, there are more of us (i.e. non-rich people) than them (e.g. millionaires who hold undue influence on our government and economy).  The same epithets lobbed at protestors of the Viet Nam war, The Civil Rights Movement, Women's Rights and the like, are being yelled from the balconies of the rich upon the regular folk below (See video at the end of this post).  Despite characterizations of "the great unwashed" and "unemployed trust fund babies," change was forced.

Keep up the pressure!  Make the American Autumn a force that changes our world.  Solidarity forever!

Thespianic Civil Servant

I have worked quite a bit in Europe, quite a bit in Germany.  It is fascinating to talk to European actors.  Sitting over kaffe in the theatre's kantine - the small employees only restaurant in the basement of most municipal theatres.  - very civilized - I have swapped stories with many actors from across the pond.  Their concept of American actors?  "Hollywood!" "Broadway!" "Gelt! (Money)"  German schauspielers are surprised when I tell them the reality of our gold-paved streets.

The concept of the freelance actor, for the most part, does not exist over there.  A German actor, for example, usually gets a 2-year contract and is attached to a local theatre. There is usually no guarantee of roles and one receives a regular salary, whether one is actually working on a show or not.  The drawbacks?  More or less like ours.  Directors have their favorites.  Company A is substandard according to common lore; Company B is preferable because of an established artist or its location, etc.  This is much like the life of those who do regional theatre in our country, with the difference being the removal from the equation of the constant search for the next job.
Theatre was invented by the Greeks, but show business was invented by Americans.  Could the actor-as-civil-servant be a viable model down the road for regional theatres in our country? Aside from a very few like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, theatre companies - i.e. companies of artists who work together over a period of years - are a thing of the past.  Mike Daisey, the monologist, in his very funny, HOW THEATRE FAILED AMERICA, talks about the current system of creating theatrical works as being in the main a chemistry experiment - add actors and a director for a few weeks and see what happens.  We know what happens - hit or miss.

Does not a country like ours deserve better?  The echo I already hear reverberating is "The Economy-onomy-onomy."  The money is there.  It's just apportioned to other things.

The actor as civil servant, hmm....

My Friend, The Producer (Part 2)

When your boss is a producer, an artistic director, a colleague as well as a friend, how do you deal with him or her when on the other side of the negotiating table?

A greater degree of intimacy with an artistic director/producer gives you an idea of how the field lays when it comes to contracts. Regional theatre in today's United States is not on its strongest footing ever. Very few, if any, have bucketsfull of money hidden away. The best way to negotiate contracts (and a couple of key contracts, like LORT, are up for re-negotiation soon) is to use all that knowledge that we have from working closely as colleagues and friends as a yardstick to know what we can successfully demand, and realistically achieve.

Most theatres of the same economic plane have similar needs and ways of operation. Some are better business people than others, of course. It is our collective wisdom that will allow us to know what and what not to demand; knowing that we seek to, form a symbiosis between our employers and ourselves and not so much a stand-off. Those who are more comfortable in the position of negotiator tend to spearhead contract talks for the producers' side. The signatories-to-be (the producers not actively involved in contract talks) trust in the wisdom and ability of their asignees.

There are producers who enjoy the contract negotiation process. It is the thrill of combat that spurs them along, as well as the actual benefits for their respective business plans. They are committed. They are smart, and they have more money, as a collective, than our union does. We always have an edge in that, they can't present their shows without us. That is power.

That is the macro-relationship. In the micro-relationship, that is the producer in negotiations with a potential and unrepresented employee. There are contract minimums. There are regional producers who will not budge on salary. It never hurts to ask, however. If you are negotiating your own contracts, (many of are right now doing just that. It's Stock Season) make sure you have a list of things that you want and things that you need. Chief among these for you will probably be salary considerations. Have a high (What you think you can get if the market will bear) and a low (the least that you can realistically accept)

If negotiating for salary points comes to a dead end, sometimes it is possible to get a producer to add a per diem. Not all contracts require a per diem. But just because it's not required does not mean that you can't get it. The advantage of per diem, for the producer, is that there are no hidden additional costs. With salaries, the rule of thumb is that on top of the actual salary, the producer will have to pay an additional 40% in fringe benefits. Fringe benefits include AEA pension and health contribution, payroll taxes, unemployment and processing. The advantage for the actor or stage manager, of course, is more money.

Per diem has no on-the-top expenses for the producer. You end up getting more money, but the producer pays less fringes. Of course ones unemployment rate is based on ones salary alone, not salary plus per diem.

There are other points of bargaining, however. Many regional theatres get support, not in money, but in goods and services. There are negotiating points which are not covered in any rule book. Many are locality-specific. Some of them include: lodging upgrades, travel upgrades, temporary health club memberships, comp tickets, and others. Be creative.