95% of us can’t make a living from acting
85% of us make less than £10,000 a year from it.
Low pay
Minimal royalties
ai.
We are increasingly being forced into positions that keep us weak.
Financially weak. Spiritually weak.
And the worst part is, we think we can’t do anything about it.
How do I make $8 (£5.91) last for six days?
That was the question Ashlea Bassham had been struggling with.
32p per meal.
Until she came upon a secret facebook group, 50 people strong.
A few months later, in February 2018, she was standing arm in arm with her colleagues – all of whom had been forced into a similar situation.
They were singing
“Take me home…Country roads….”
They were the teachers of West Virginia.
And they were on strike.
They had been scrambling to survive for years.
West Virginia ranked 48th out of the 50 states for teachers pay
Some were on food stamps
Some had to work shifts at grocery stores on weekends.
All, inexplicably, were made to wear a fitbit – forced to rack up a certain amount of steps to be able to qualify for their healthcare.
If they didn’t by the end of the year, they had to pay a $500 penalty.
Undervalued and disrespected
Conditions were bleak.
And all knew the truth – their condition affected the kids’ conditions.
But that was just the way things were. How they’d always been.
Until they said no. Enough is enough.
Through word of mouth the secret group of 50 became 100, 100 became 200, 200 became 20,000. Desperate for change.
But they had a problem: they had no power.
Their Union was weak
Union leadership spent their energies persuading them not to do anything about it.
This is the way things are, they said. Trust the process. Things will get better.
The teachers said we’ll do it anyway.
You’ll lose your jobs. What you’re doing is illegal. We don’t support you.
we’ll do it anyway.
The attorney general issued a press release the day before the strikes: “[a strike of] any length on any ground is illegal”
State Law: Teachers could be punished by being denied pay, suspended, fired, barred from teaching in a public school for a year, hit with criminal misdemeanours, or even fined or jailed…
His office, he said, was prepared to uphold the law:
We’ll. Do it. Anyway.
Low pay – demeaning conditions – an underpowered union – illegal to strike – just the way it is.
Undervalued and disrespected.
We’ll do it anyway.
The Teachers went ahead with their illegal strike. Risking getting the sack. Risking jail time.
9 days later the state of West Virginia agreed to their demands.
A 5% payrise.
And no more fitbits.
Their courage was contagious
Teachers in Oklahoma, Kentucky and Arizona all began chanting the same song…
Take me home….Country roads…
Our Union, Equity is currently in negotiation with our film and tv producers for fairer pay, fairer royalties and Ai protections.
And our film and tv producers have just responded:
- Higher minimum pay – especially for big-budget productions
- Tiny increases, no special rates for rich productions
- Fair repeat payments when our films/shows are repeated or streamed
- Barely any increase (by 0.2%) and almost nothing for some types of work
- Rules to stop AI copying our face, voice or acting without permission
- Nothing. No response.
This is unacceptable.
There is a conversation I witness frequently on set and in green rooms and behind closed doors:
And that’s how those who want to keep the status quo will beat us.
They make us feel like there’s no point fighting.
But there is.
Our union is only as strong as its membership. And it’s only as loud as we are.
What we have really been saying behind closed doors is this:
I am weak. I have no power. So what’s the bloody point.
One of the most remarkable moments of the strike came on day 5 when the union leaders came to the teachers declaring victory – “we got 3% for the other school workers [bus drivers, cafeteria workers etc], but we got you your 5%!“
They wanted to end the strike fast, get teachers back to work, and claim a quick victory.
But the 20,000 teachers stood firm with the other school workers, rejected the leaders “victory”, and chanted
‘WE ARE THE UNION BOSSES!’
All school workers meant all.
4 more days of strikes – the leaders came back out of negotiations:
5% pay rise for ALL school workers.
Ashlea and her colleagues had done it.
They had won.
Change is possible
If you want to see an increase in your income, this is the way to do it. And now is the time to fight.
If you do not fight now – in the future, when you find yourself complaining about the industry’s low pay, no ai protection or little royalties, know that you were culpable.
How to fight:
NEXT MONDAY 16TH JUNE EQUITY ARE HOLDING AN EVENT IN CENTRAL LONDON
A briefing where leadership will tell us their plan to get fairer terms. We can shout our support or demand change.
The exact location will be emailed to you
but I imagine it will look something like this:
I will be there and I’d like to gently encourage you to be there too.
Book two. Bring a friend. Mobilise.
The louder we are. The more the producers will have to listen.
It’s time to push for fairer working conditions.
Not just for actors. For all. Stunt performers. Supporting Artists. All of us.
We are much stronger than we think we are.
Especially when we’re fighting together.
See you Monday,
A x
P.s. share this letter with anyone you think would be up for the fight.
p.p.s Once you’ve booked your tickets – reply to this email and let me know – we’ll get a drink beforehand – first round’s on me x