Freelance Matters

By Suzanne Steidl

IF YOU’RE WORKING OFF THE CARD,

READ THIS

The following letter was sent to members in August.  It is reprinted here for those of you who don’t read your mail. - SMS

July 25, 2003

Dear Member:

                For the past year and half, I have been working with many of you, the talent agents, the casting directors, production houses, advertising agencies and our sister unions to try to turn this market around.  There just isn’t enough work out there anymore and we have to figure out ways to make the work and keep the work. 

A lot is going on: Conservatory is up and running with two purposes in mind—to increase the professional and marketing skills of members and to build bridges between AFTRA and the production community.  It’s working, albeit slowly.   We’re making presentations to agency creative teams to let them know who we are and why it’s important to keep the work local and hire union.  We are leading the charge on statewide legislation to attract production to our region.  We are winning victories in the struggle to keep signatory agencies honest and operating in the best interest of you, our members.  We’re making sure that you are represented when problems with payments or working conditions arise—locally and nationally.  We’ve spearheaded an effort to bring the entire film community and the Pittsburgh Film Office together to produce an inclusive production guide.  There’s more but now let me get to the point.

If you are a member who is working non-union you are hurting our efforts on behalf of the entire membership, you are hurting yourself and you are instrumental in killing our market. You are creating a market where it will be impossible to maintain rates of pay that make employers worthy of your unique talents.  You are weakening the Health and Retirement Funds and through that weakening making it impossible for increasing numbers of members to qualify for benefits.  You are creating a market where signatory employers can’t justify to clients the need to pay fair wages, residuals, H & R contributions and who have even gone so far as to import non-union talent from out of town to rob you of work.  Yes, the buck is quick but the short-term advantage creates a future market where $100.00 is the going rate and you’ll take $75.00 to get the job.

Beginning today, working non-union will bring discipline and possible expulsion from our Union and our sister unions.   I am aware of what’s going on in our market and will gather the facts to bring charges that stick against offenders.   If you have a question about work that you are offered, I am available to discuss it with you and even figure out ways to convert non-union to union work.  If you have done non-union work in the past and want to come clean, I am here to talk about it before it bites you later.

Please accept this as an invitation to join the team that is working to improve your working life and the lives of our 80,000 members nationally.  Every day we lose power in the face of an ever-changing media environment.  If we don’t do the right thing right now we don’t stand a chance.

In solidarity and with best wishes,

Suzanne Steidl                       

Assistant Executive Director Freelance