What Is An Actor's Union?

   Similar to most labor unions, an actor's union is an organization that represents actors in show-business; ensuring that actors receive just pay, fair treatment and decent working conditions. Simply put, an actor's union protects actors against exploitation and mistreatment.

What Exactly Does An Actor's Union Do?

• Broadly, an actor’s union protects the rights, safety, health, careers, and payment of its members.
• It sets the minimum amount of money a member must be paid for a job (sometimes this minimum is referred to as scale).
• It determines the amount of time a member is supposed to work each day, and the amount of money the member is to be paid if he or she has to work longer than that time.
• It sets industry safety standards and working conditions.
• It sets up health care and retirement packages for members.
• An actor's union may also help members find work and training opportunities.  

 

    There are three major unions that actors should be aware of: AFTRA, the Screen Actors’ Guild and the Actors’ Equity Association. These unions represent actors in all the major areas of acting and performance, from television and radio broadcasting (AFTRA) to movies (Screen Actors’ Guild) to theatrical performance (Actor’s Equity Association).

What Is AFTRA? (AFTRA.org)
    AFTRA is an acronym that stands for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a labor union which represents actors who work in television and radio, as well as recording artists, announcers and newspersons. As with any labor union, AFTRA works on issues such as working conditions, pay rates, health benefits, pensions and other issues concerning the people they represent.

What is the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG)? (sag.org)
    The Screen Actor's Guild is the union that primarily represents actors who perform in movies. Members of the Screen Actor's Guild are issued a membership card, or SAG Card, as proof of membership and are directed to join SAG affiliated agencies, or agencies that have agreed to closely follow SAG guidelines. Most actors join SAG through the Taft-Hartley Act, allowing them to work on a union production to earn their SAG Card.

What Is The Actor's Equity Association? (actorsequity.org)
    The Actors’ Equity Association, or Equity for short, is the union that primarily represents actors who perform in theatre. Formed in 1913, Equity is the oldest of all the major unions. It came along at a time when radio, television and film were in their infant stages and theatrical performance was most prominent. Equity was formed in response to the frequent exploitation and mistreatment of actors by Broadway Theater houses in the early part of the 20^th century. Its founding helped set the stage for the other actor unions that followed.