JUDGE IT BY THE BUDGET
Judge It By The Budget has always been at the core of the #FairWageOnCouncil platform.
For much of its history, Equity has negotiated contracts with not-for-profit employers that determine minimum salaries for stage managers and actors based on box office sales. That was a model that made sense when ticket revenue was the primary source of income for most theaters, but the industry changed long ago. Our not-for-profit producers now rely on donations and contributions—from individuals, foundations, and government entities—as much or more than they do on ticket revenue. And yet our model for negotiating more jobs and fairer wages never changed to account for that shift.
Until now.
After a 28-month process—a process that began with a motion at a Membership meeting, saw the creation of a working group, then a recommendation to the Executive Committee, and finally a vote in Council—Actors' Equity unanimously approved this new, landmark policy:
For much of its history, Equity has negotiated contracts with not-for-profit employers that determine minimum salaries for stage managers and actors based on box office sales. That was a model that made sense when ticket revenue was the primary source of income for most theaters, but the industry changed long ago. Our not-for-profit producers now rely on donations and contributions—from individuals, foundations, and government entities—as much or more than they do on ticket revenue. And yet our model for negotiating more jobs and fairer wages never changed to account for that shift.
Until now.
After a 28-month process—a process that began with a motion at a Membership meeting, saw the creation of a working group, then a recommendation to the Executive Committee, and finally a vote in Council—Actors' Equity unanimously approved this new, landmark policy:
RESOLVED that it shall be the stated long-term objective of Actors’ Equity Association to achieve wages commensurate with a not-for-profit employer’s size. Recognizing that the methods to achieve this goal may vary widely across the union’s agreement, the union will consider a broad view of the finances of the producing institution, instead of exclusively receipt based income from its individual performing venues.
This is Judge It By The Budget: the tool that will enable us finally establish fairness across every one of our agreements with not-for-profit employers. And now more than ever, it will serve as an invaluable asset as we partner with our employers to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis. Wages that are truly fair—both to workers and the institutions that employ them—serve everyone's interests and long-term viability.
I am proud to have been been involved at every step of the nearly two and a half-year process of establishing this new policy. From supporting the initial motion, to serving on the working group, to voting in Executive Committee to send it to Council, to joining the Council in its unanimous vote. Of all of my accomplishments as a Councilor and Vice President, I'm proudest of Judge It By The Budget.
