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.

AEA Council Man On The Street Video

The ACTogether people who sponsored the Meet The Candidates event at the Players Club in NYC last week, made this man-on-the-street video, which is quite fun and in which you can see some of the candidates (including me) in action, rather than just our black and white still photos in Equity News. (NB: To the Snark Factory - no bad hair day jokes, OK?)

I Saw Your Brassiere on Facebook

Jimmy Ludwig and I and an occasional column in Equity News called Ask The Geeks. 

Here's one from April of 2009.  We are all wending our way through the morass that is or digital world.  Theatre people have special considerations not only due to the public nature of our work, but our untraditional work places.

Equity’s Committee on New Media and New Technology (lovingly named The Geek Committee) cares about issues concerning our Members and New Media.  (And there are tons of issues) So to help clear up some confusion, welcome to another edition of: Ask The Geeks

Ask The Geeks

Q.   Last week, on my birthday, a bunch of people burst in to the dressing room and videoed me in my bra.  I posted it on my Facebook page.  I think it’s hysterical, but my dressing roommate went postal because part of her arm and the back of her head are in it.  You can’t even tell it’s her but now she’s really cold toward me.  Am I right or is she having a cow for no good reason?

A.    No, the cow is well deserved.  If this were at your house, your only crime would be insensitivity.  The problem here is that you were at work.  Delete the video.

Q.   I’m building a website.  I found a pirated clip from my show on YouTube.  I want to lift a clip (just me singing and nobody else in frame) and put it up on my site.  Problem?  After all – it’s my image and I didn’t pirate it.

A.    But you don’t own the show in which your image appears – the producer does.  If you use ANY of that footage, you are as legally vulnerable as whoever pirated it in the first place.

Q.   I’m really pissed-off!  One night we had to stop the show and improv some dialogue until our set started working again.  Somebody in the audience recorded the whole thing and now it’s all over the internet!  A friend told me there was nothing I could do because it was news and therefore “fair use.”  (The incident made all the newspapers the next day) Is that right?

A.    The Doctrine of Fair Use is an exception to copyright laws.  This is major lawyer territory but basically, the copyright law says that fair use of a copyrighted work without permission can occur if it is used as (1) criticism and comment, (2) parody and satire, (3) scholarship and research, (4) news reporting and (5) teaching.

That said, what the audience member did was to steal your image.  Period.  If it was during a performance, he not only stole your image, but the property of your show’s producer too.  Catching the thief is the hard part, but if you can, you may be due damages.  Equity has been successful at having such footage removed.

Q.   In trying to promote myself, some friends and me have made an online webisode.  We’ve had a lot of hits.  We’re not making any money and I’m giving every cast member a copy.  No harm – right?

A.    Depends.  Do you or any of the other cast members belong to either AFTRA or SAG [SAG-AFTRA]?  If you are, did you get the proper paper work?  You could be in violation if you didn’t.  So much trouble can often be avoided with a single phone call.

That’s all for this month’s edition of ASK THE GEEKS!

Remember: Your image has value.

Your image (this includes your voice, photo and any other reproducible part of you) is yours to sell or give away as you please.  But it gets complicated anytime other people are involved.

The media landscape changes literally every day.  Wrapping ones mind around the concepts of New Media can cause crossed eyes.  Equity is there to help.  That’s one of the things you pay dues for.  Producers have deeper pockets and better access to lawyers than most actors do.  If you’re not sure about an issues dealing with New Media, call Equity or email taping@actorsequity.org.*  Your union wants to protect you – not punish you.

Under Equity’s collective bargaining agreements, the ways in which a producer may exploit your image are laid out very clearly. † There are penalties for the use of your image outside of the parameters of your contract.

Under federal law 18 U.S.C. 2319A, it’s a felony to “transmit, distribute or offer to distribute” sound or video to anybody anywhere (including posting them on social networking sites) without the consent of the performer(s) involved.

Here are some rules of thumb:

·      Yours is the only image you have the right to promote, but…

·      Just because it’s your image doesn’t guarantee that you have that right.

·      If you tape (film/photograph) it – make sure you have the right to do so.

·      If you don’t have the right to film it – don’t.

·      If you didn’t film it yourself – you probably don’t own it.

Tune in down the road for more pertinent info.  Until then, stay in touch at taping@actorsequity.com.*

* updated email: capture@actorsequity.org

† this was written before many of the Media packages which are now standards in many of our contracts.

My candidate speech at the 2014 Actors' Equity National Membership Meeting

As per its by-laws, Equity allows each candidate running for Council two minutes to speak to the membership.  For all the issues that stage managers and actors are concerned with, this is a paltry amount of time; barely a how-do-you-do.  It's more like a candidate EPA.  

We were in the Gramercy room at the New York Hilton on Friday, April 11.  A large turnout was expected.  Though there were seats for a few hundred, there were, by my estimation about 150 in attendance. This was disappointing as the Town Hall meeting in January was at overflow capacity.  I am hoping that this does not mean that the fire that was in so many people's bellies has not gone out.  Anyway, here is what I said:

"Greetings, Brothers and Sisters. When a candidate gets up here and says something like “we are the union;” “together we are strong,” it can sound like empty, flowery poetry - just something one says to get elected.  When I say it, it is a strategy.  The great thing about the current swirling storm of fecal matter over tiered tours is that we have invigorated the membership.  We spoke and we were heard.  Thank you, brothers and sisters. And stay vocal.

Annually, there are more young people graduating from theatre programs around the country than ever and they are far better trained than I was at their age, but the number of jobs has not increased.   So, part of our mission, as the leading light to keep the theatre ever professional, is to make not just working, but working Equity, the thing to aspire to.  I never want to hear a young professional actor say, ‘I wonder if it’s too soon to take my Equity card.’ Non-union theatre proliferates because actors don’t realize they have the power to demand more. That’s what unions are all about. Outreach, Education and Organizing are passions that keep me coming back to this particular well.  I am a working actor and I have skin in this game.

I have several years of service to this union behind me.  I have served on Council before and a sit on more committees than I can count.  It is work I do proudly and well.  I would be honored to work for you.  And I’m always reachable.  Two minutes is not enough time to give the whole picture, so: my website is www.showbizbuzz.info; you can "like" me on Facebook at Buzz Roddy For Equity Council and my email is buzzforcouncil@gmail.com.  Thank you, Brothers and Sisters."

Ballots go out Monday April 14 and are due back on May 18.  Please vote.  Thank you.

Buzz Roddy's 2014 Candidate Statement

If you have the time, and you will be in New York, I would love to meet you.  Please come to The Players Club on Monday, April 14th 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm EDT to meet me and many other candidates in all categories (Principal, Stage Manager and Chorus)

and of course, the National AEA Membership meeting on Friday, April 11, (2PM EDT, 1PM CDT, 10A PDT) all over the country.  I will be at the New York Hilton, but there is a telephonic hook-up with the rest of the office cities.

*reprinted from Equity News April 2014

The Alphabet Soup of Actors' Equity Governance

One of Equity’s most enduring statistics is the paltry member participation in officer and council elections.  Last election, despite the ability of the membership to vote electronically, fewer than 15% of our almost 50,000 members even returned a ballot. This is a typical number for the last decade.

Some cite narcissism and apathy as the causes, but Equity members have historically hurled themselves into worthy causes, great and small.  Whether saving whales or demanding civil rights, we are an active and vocal society.  How then to explain the lack of involvement in our own organization that seeks to improve our own condition?

Rather than being apathetic, it is likely that most of us just do not know how our union’s government works.  If this describes you, you are one of many.  Equity does little to engage the member into voting.  Most of us don't know any of the candidates unless we or our colleagues have worked with them or seen their work.  All the candidates write blurbs saying things that just about everyone will agree with.  Also, most of us only know, in a general way, what we are electing these people to do.  Here are some basics:

First, you should know that the boss is you, the member.  It probably does not feel like it, but Council is beholden to our wishes.  There are many ways to exert your authority.  You can attend a membership meeting.  Write to Council (all letters must be read and attached to the minutes, as per our by-laws) You can join a committee.  You can run for Council.

Did you know that any member in good standing can observe a Council or Regional Board meeting?  (And please do.  They meet every month and Council members always notice when the boss is in the room.  Contact your region’s office.)

There are two components in the running of our union.  The first are your electeds – the Officers and Councillors, who set policy.  The second is the staff, who carries out the will of the membership as expressed through Council.  The former are volunteers; the latter are paid employees.

Acronyms demystified

Like any organization, those who work day-to-day at the union use their own shorthand.  While acronyms serve to save time and breath, they often alienate those who are not in the inside - i.e. the Members.  Here goes...

Council debates and sets policy nationally. Regional boards set policy locally. The country is divided into three discrete regions: Western, Central and Eastern.  Each Councillor serves 1) in a national capacity and, simultaneously, 2) as a board member in his or her region of residence.

Staff (Appointed and hired by Council)

Hence, a Councillor in the Central region will attend the monthly CRB (Central Regional Board) meeting.  We recently hired Sean Taylor (on staff as the Central Regional Director or CRD) to run the Central Region office.  In addition to Councillors from this region, there are members who are Non-Councillor CRB members (and who do not attend National Council meetings)

The Los Angeles office is run by staffer, Ralph Remington, the Western Regional Director (WRD), who is in charge of operations there.

The Eastern office houses the ERD, Tom Carpenter.  Tom also serves as our General Counsel (i.e. our in-house lawyer).

In addition to the Eastern offices, New York houses the National office for which Mary McColl, our ED (Executive Director) supervises national affairs.  She's staff, too.  The head of all staff in the country, as a matter of fact.

Electeds

There are 5 elected Officers: We have one President (currently Nick Wyman) and three national Vice-Presidents.  The 1^st VP works chiefly as a Principal Actor; The 2^nd VP mainly as a Chorus performer; and the 3^rd VP is a Stage Manager.  (Paige Price, Rebecca Kim Jordan and Ira Mont, respectively) The fifth officer is the Secretary/Treasurer. (currently Sandra Karas)

Each region has its own Vice-President, too.  Besides the Eastern Region Vice-President (ERVP - currently Melissa Robinette) there is the CRVP (Dev Kennedy) and WRVP (Doug Carfrae).  They serve as Chairs of their respective regional boards (see above) and each have 3 Vice-Chairs, who are elected internally, (i.e. not by you and me) serving alongside.

The 75 Councillors-At-Large are segregated into categories: Principals, Chorus and Stage Managers.  There is cross-pollinizations between these groups:  There are chorus Councillors have have worked under principal contracts; Principals who have worked as stage managers, etc.  All Councillors vote and consult on all issues whether they be specifically germane to their category or not.

Again, I reëmphasize: No one on Council receives a salary.  They are all volunteers.

There are also 9 Councillors Emereti, given that status for meritorious service to the Association.  The Emereti provide insight and discuss issues, but do not vote.

The real engine of the union is its committees.  The committees do the hard work and the draw-down of what they argue and decide about goes to Council. There are committees for just about every area of interest to Actors and Stage Managers.  There are contract committees, like Production, L.O.R.T. and Stock. Other myriad committees include: Equal Employment Opportunity; Member Education; Senior Performers.  There are region-specific committee as well as national committees. Some of these are Councillor only. (National Public Policy, House Affairs, Organizing, for example) This is due to a need for confidentiality.  Confidentiality is vital when Council is debating policy ahead of bargaining with our producers, for example.  

Most committees, however, are open to the membership.  Some have membership criteria like place of residence, but most are open to any member in good standing. There is no need to have any prior knowledge of parliamentary procedure.  What is required is passion.  Again, no pay here - just satisfaction at fighting the good fight.  To volunteer for a committee, call the office for your region. Everyone can participate, each to his or her own strength, and in every capacity.

Get to know your Council.  Here's a list (current as of March 2014) of the people who represent you.    For more, click on the “About Equity” tab at the top of the Equity’s home page.

What You and Your Castmates Have In Common With Fast Food Workers

Fast food workers demonstrating outside a McDonald's in Harlem last year

New York City 18 March 2014 - I was happy to see a lawsuit by fast food workers today, seeking to be compensated by their employers for wage theft.  These workers are trying to form a union.

Traditionally, the AFL-CIO has not tried to organize these types of workers because the prevailing perception has been that the fry cooks, cleaning crew members and cashiers engaged at these jobs were teenagers and only working these jobs on their way to something else.  A union could never take hold was the thinking.  The demographics have changed, though.  Being a fast food worker is still an entry into the work force for some; a way to learn how to work before going off to bigger and better things.  When most of these restaurants were in suburban communities, the workers were teenagers and young adults usually with other support.  As fast food restaurants have become prevalent in urban centers, and as the economy has devolved to its current state, there are more who work at Burger King or McDonald's not for pocket change after school, but to pay rent and support a family.  (Read an article about one worker's plight.)

In America, we like to think that we live in a free market economy where all work is compensated commensurate with its "value."  It is a truism, accepted by many, that wages at such places should be low, because these workers are all replaceable; there is not a lot of skill involved in their work.  These people are not doing a "real" job.

You know - kind of like civilians think of actors.

Many AEA members are mystified as to why I go on about the Labor Movement and Equity's place in it.  You may not know that Actors' Equity is one of the most successful labor unions in America today.  Despite a major push to kill unions in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Indiana and other states, our membership is growing every year.  Currently, we are just shy of 50,000 members, nationwide.

It is remarkable that theatre artists who are usually some of the most socially-conscious and politically-active people around do not make the labor movement one of their core causes.  Many view the labor movement through a sepia toned prism where muscle-bound, overall-clad men march with a wrench resting on their shoulders. The 1930s - 1960s was the labor movement's golden age.  It was certainly one of the major factors in the raising of millions of poor folk into the middle class.  The labor movement has also been one of the most dynamic engines of social justice and amelioration worldwide.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s favorite union was the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), local 1199.  His famous "I've been to the mountaintop" speech was addressing sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968 who were striking.  The International Ladies Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) were instrumental in helping its membership, typically new immigrants, not only to have safe working conditions and a livable wage, but provided classes in English language, citizenship, money management and health among others.

So when I blow on about Big Labor and Equity's place in it, I am really talking about making the world a better place.  It's often difficult to see the direct line between the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire of 1911 and the current company of Hairspray at a Stock theatre in New England.  There is, though.  We continually and directly benefit from the work of countless others who have preceded us.  Some of the problems that existed then are not our focus today, yet there are always new problems that Unions need to confront as a unified force.  The landscape is ever changing, and we must adapt - often just to not lose something that we think of as an unchanging done-deal from long ago.

A rising tide lifts all boats.

Our work together improves not just our lot, but all people.  Even the non-union theatre benefits from our work.  Non-union wages are based on union rates, and though they do not have benefits like pension and health, wages would certainly be much lower if producers did not refer to Equity agreements when budgeting these jobs.  Globalization has made manifest the difference in what our working conditions are compared to those in other countries. If you've been following anything about how smartphones are made or the conditions for garment workers in Asia who make clothes sold here for pennies, you know that there is gross chasm of inequity between us and them.

We're fortunate that we are in an industry that is not out-sourceable.  We are in a strong position when we stand together for change.  Of course, our primary work must always be to better the lives of stage managers and actors.  And by our becoming ever stronger, we can then join with other labor organizations - in our industry as well as others - and make life in all of America (and yes, the world) better.

I know it's hard to get misty-eyed when talking about the Labor Movement. I come pretty close, though, thinking about the people I know who serve on Equity committees for no compensation other than the knowledge that they are doing good works. Even our paid staff, many of whom could probably find better-paying jobs, serve Equity's membership because they believe in something higher.

So, all that "proud Equity member" jazz in my playbill bio?  It's a big deal.