AEA Elections - Who gives a crap?

In 2012 there was an important national election for the office of President of the United States.  As it was important to participate, I showed up at my local polling place, pulled back the curtain and started turning levers.  There was more on the ballot than just the office of President.  There were city councilmen.  There were ballot initiatives.  And there were judges up for election.

Judges.

I had done research about all the candidates, except for the judges. I know that who we have on the bench, making decisions in our courts was vital to our democracy but for the most part, I closed my eyes and picked the first lever I touched.

How do you decide who to vote for in Actors' Equity Council elections?  Do you end up just not voting?

Most Equity members know how important it is to have a Council who represents their best interests.  There are those who dig assiduously into the backgrounds of AEA candidates.  They attend membership meetings.  Some contact the candidates directly. When casting ballots, their choices are well-considered.

Most of us, if we do vote at all, use criteria such as the likeability of a candidate. Perhaps we have seen candidate "A" in a play and she was wonderful.  Perhaps Candidate "F" submitted a really good-looking photo to Equity News.  If you use either criterion, you cannot really be blamed.  Our election procedures are not such as encourage much engagement by members.  That said, member apathy is a fact.  Most of us do not even want to think about the union and its dealings in our day-to-day lives.  We just want to work and are happy that our contract provisions are in place.

What type of person runs for a Council seat?

Not anyone who wants a cushy job, that's for sure.  Many do not know that Equity Council members do not receive a salary.  There are over 80 Councillors: 8 officers; 75 Councillors-at-large and 9 Councillors Emereti (retired Councillors who can not vote).  There is a meeting every month, averaging about 4 hours in length.  In addition, every Councillor serves on the board of his or her Region. That's an additional monthly meeting. Special meetings pop up from time to time.  Most Councillors serve on several committees and often chair many of these.  This represents additional hours in a given week. Often, being on Council is a full-time, unpaid job. So I can tell you that any one who chooses to serve doesn't do it just for the nakhes.  I have respect for anyone who does this work, whether I agree with them or not.

I'll tell you what I get out of it. Perhaps you have heard the phrase, "do well by doing good." I am trying to make my life as an actor better by improving the industry as a whole. This is work that I enjoy.  Why?  First, I have known many of the serving Councillors for several years.  We work together well.  They are wicked smart, as Bostonians say.  I have always enjoyed being in a great ensemble in a show. It's about the collaboration. Union service, for me anyway, is a facility which feeds on itself.  What I mean by this is the more I learn about how things work, the more I want to make them work.  I do a lot of research at law libraries, on-line and with labor attorneys and officials. I suppose I might be termed a "labor geek."

I have some pet projects:

• Public Policy is a large interest of mine.  Lobbying elected leaders for arts funding; tax reform for artists; marriage equality; unemployment reform - these are all things that I have gotten enormous satisfaction out of working on, even though the progress can be glacially slow. I was so glad when AEA got its own AFL-CIO charter. As much as our funds and staff can afford, without displacing our contract negotiation and enforcement capability, we must work with big labor to make things better for everyone. (The better people do, the more they are willing and can afford to see theatre)

• Election procedures.  This is the genesis of this particular blog post. Our elections do not engage the Membership.  Part of this is Equity's fault.  Some of this is due to the draconian and counter-productive anti-union labor laws. This relates back to public policy, above.  The other side of this equation is member apathy.  One of the benefits of the current touring controversies is that more of us care about who is in the room when we negotiate our contracts.  I hope that this energy increases.  I am positive at the moment that it will.  I hope we all keep the pressure on our fellows to get involved.

• Membership Education. An educated and informed membership is our most valuable tool in maintaining a strong union and achieving our goals.  If you are an AEA member and are reading this, count yourself as part of the solution.  Thank you. I would love to have a permanent institution in our union.  Similar to the AFTRA-SAG Conservatory.  Call it Equity University.  In addition to free workshops and classes to improve our performing skills, many of us need business training and need to learn about how the union works.  This will take some major money.  We have an under-used and under-funded Actors' Equity Foundation. This is an organization separate from the union and not in any way funded by union dues that could be used to bring this about.  Right now, we have periodic seminars and workshops that spring up when we can cobble them together.  I have taught a few. We could use more.

• Access to work. Equity Principal Audition and Equity Chorus Calls (EPA/ECCs) Agent Access Auditions (AAAs) are all programs that people are getting real work from. The former has grown in value due to vigorous contract enforcement. The latter is a result of our quite good relations with talent agents that we have nurtured over many years.  Organizing new work is vital.  There are two methods: top down and bottom up. Our preferred method is top down - we bargain with an employer who agrees to engage in collective bargaining with Equity.  Bottom up - organizing stage managers and actors to unionize is often not practical. By the time a vote to unionize is taken the show either closes or is abandoned by the producer.  But one form of bottom up organizing we can do is to go to areas where there is a non-union acting community and teach the value of Equity work and offer support. We will never be rid of non-union theatre, and indeed there is a place for it, but we can make Equity work the thing to aspire to.

It is vital to make ourselves available to the Membership.  This is why I have this blog.  This is why I make my email address available to any AEA member who wants it.  Questions? Comments?  Hit me back.