Speak Up!

Talk to union members: 

At auditions, on set, at your agency, at union events… whenever and wherever you see your fellow members, talk to them about the importance of solidarity, the benefits of membership and the AdsGoUNION campaign. 

Key points for discussions with members:

• Your union is working hard to create new commercial jobs and recapture work we may have lost. SAG-AFTRA members are a critical piece of this multifaceted initiative. 
• Attending AdsGoUNION events will keep you informed about what’s happening with the campaign and how you can help.
• Success is possible only if we remain unified, ensuring that advertisers who do non-union ads don’t have access to the best actors: SAG-AFTRA members. 
• If we allow advertisers to pay us less, they will. If non-union producers can hire good actors for next to nothing, they have no incentive to go union. Working off the card contributes to the growth of non-union work. 
• When you put yourself on sale and let casting directors know you’re willing to work for less than union rates, they’re less likely to consider you for good union jobs. 
• SAG-AFTRA is increasing enforcement of Global Rule One, which states that members must only work under union contracts. If you’re caught working non-union you’ll face a jury of your peers and could be fined, suspended or expelled from the union.
• Being a union member guarantees you a safe set, fair pay, timely payment, and access to great health benefits and a pension. There are no protections or benefits when you work non-union.
• Members can help create more union jobs by sending information about non-union commercials to adsgounion@sagaftra.org.

Talk to actors who aren’t yet SAG-AFTRA members: 

We need to talk to these performers whenever we meet, teach or work with them about the value of being a union member and the dangers of working non-union ads.

Key points for discussions with pre-members:

• When you do non-union ads you allow advertisers to exploit you by paying you less for your talent and skill than you deserve. They can subject you to longer unpaid work hours and potentially hazardous working conditions.
• Non-union actors earn far less than their union counterparts. 
• Working under SAG-AFTRA contracts gets you fair wages, residuals (regular payments while your commercial runs), timely payment, safe working conditions, and access to benefits like health insurance and a pension.
• Working non-union can undermine your future by creating uncontrollable “product conflicts.” If you work on a non-union beer commercial, it could run “in perpetuity” without any further payment. Your face will be endlessly associated with that product and you might never be able to do a union commercial for any beverage — ever! If you work on a union beer commercial, the advertiser has to pay you for as long as they want to use your performance, in return for the guarantee that you won’t do an ad for a competitor.
• Good agents are less likely to represent actors with a history of doing non-union commercials, because they may have a lot of uncontrollable product conflicts and casting directors won’t consider them for union ads.
• If you want to be a professional performer, you shouldn’t do non-union commercials. It harms you and it harms your community. If talented actors accept low wages and poor working conditions, advertisers will have no reason to pay fairly under a union contract.
• A payment plan is available to help new members pay their initiation fee, and loans are available through the SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union at (800) 826-6946 or, in New York, at the Actors Federal Credit Union at (800) 2-ACTORS. 

Talk to the folks who represent you:

AdsGoUNION benefits your agents and managers, too, because your success and their success are one and the same. Let them know they can help us reclaim and expand commercial work opportunities.

Key points for discussions with agents and managers:

• Reversing the non-union trend and recapturing commercial work is a top priority for SAG-AFTRA.
• You appreciate that they understand how much you value your SAG-AFTRA membership, and the wages, protections and benefits that union contracts provide.
• Since performers are paid significantly less for non-union work, agents and managers earn a lot less, too. Non-union production hurts everybody’s bottom line. 
• An agent earning the standard 10% commission on a union commercial generally earns a lot more than an agent chasing down a higher commission on a low paying, non-union commercial.
• Professional representatives are in an ideal position to encourage eligible non-members to join SAG-AFTRA and be paid and treated like a professional.