Chicago Acting blog by David August

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

As of 2025, please go to stuff.davidaugust.com, my newer blog. See you there!

Equity is still struggling to cover tours. And they just cut out health care for a whole big bunch of actors.

I don't really know what I'm talking about, just an idea: Perhaps union members are a union's strength? Instead of trying to make sure each production is under an Equity contract, maybe Equity could focus on making each actor an Equity actor. Then the producers would have to employ Equity actors or no actors at all.

Nationally, the actors' union calls the proliferation of non-Equity shows a crisis for their organization. Equity executive director Alan Eisenberg has said that 40 percent of all theatrical tours hit the road without unionized actors. Equity performers are working half the number of weeks on the road that they did five years ago, an important statistic because actors must work a certain number of weeks per year to qualify for union pension and health benefits