The interim cut, which reduced the one-time initiation fee to $1,708, only applies to new members. Broadcasters and other performers from outside the two major cities who wished to join the union were already benefiting from the lower rate. Actors and recording artists in New York and Los Angeles, meanwhile, must pay full freight if they wish to join.
The cut, which was approved by the union’s board at its May 19-20 meeting, will be revisited by its finance committee at the next meeting in July.
Some board members criticized the move. Actress Anne-Marie Johnson, one of the few board members to speak against the motion, called it a “bait-and-switch.”
Under the recent merger agreement, initiation fees were capped at $3,000. But the merger documents don’t address a cut in the initiation fee. Moreover, union officials point out that smaller broadcast shops tend to be non-unionized and that the rate cut will help with organizing. Because actors aren’t tied to a specific employer, the official argument goes, they aren’t in the same situation as small-shop broadcasters.
Most broadcasters in New York and Los Angeles work for network affiliates and are covered under SAG-AFTRA. While the two markets also include a variety of cable, radio, and Spanish-language outlets, it isn’t yet clear how large the pool of potential members is.
Non-union actors should be the organization’s membership targets, according to Johnson, who said the cut had the “essence of preferential treatment.”
“I believe it’s unfair,” she told Back Stage. “It should be one price for all.”
Johnson, who led the Membership First faction of SAG, was a staunch advocate against the merger, which took place earlier this year. Moreover, she was part of the group of actors behind the recent failed lawsuit to stop the merger.
“Whatever their agenda is that should have been discussed during the two years this merger proposal was [under consideration],” she said. “It certainly wasn’t what was expressed during the merger campaign and in the merger documents.”
Johnson said the difference between initiation fees for broadcasters and actors is likely to discourage young non-union actors from joining the organization. “Every union actor knows there’s a ton of non-union work available around the country,” she said. “It just seems counter productive.”
Ned Vaughn, executive vice president of SAG-AFTRA, called the fee change a necessary step to further the union’s organizing efforts.
“This will only affect those who want to become members in order to work in single-unit broadcast shops, but it’s important to carefully evaluate any potential impact on our organizing efforts there,” he told Back Stage. “It’s a challenging area and we want long-term success. A strategic approach is the best way to get it."
Other unionized actors met the news with a shrug. AFTRA members, for instance, who joined before the merger was completed, paid around $1,600 in an initiation fee. Some veteran performers, though, joined both unions before the merger and paid both initiation fees. Their double initiations weren’t refunded after the merger.
