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the_fantastic_ms_foxI am independent for two reasons
1. I like acting too much to join ACTRA.
If I joined the union as an apprentice, I would not get benefits but also would be barred from shooting web-videos with my friends on weekends - unless I got my friends to kick out all the non-Canadian performers and do lot of union paperwork for a one-day project. Unless I feel like breaking my contract, union apprenticeship is the worst of both worlds. This said, a lot of people break their contract without consequence.
By contrast, SAG apprentices don't get benefits but are allowed to work on non-union shows until they get full membership. It's a shame that we don't have that system.
2. I have moral qualms. I have noticed that the vast majority of UBCP actors don't like their own union, and are only members grudgingly because they feel strongarmed into it - if they don't join, the UBCP will take larger and larger pieces of their paycheques. I do not believe that this is a healthy or fair way to create solidarity. By contrast, other ACTRA pronvincials take smaller pieces and people tend to join because they want to.
Further, as a Canadian concerned with social justice, I find that the UBCP has a lackluster commitment to diversity and making sure Canadians get work. The language in the collective agreement is noble but on the big sets I've been on, the green room is mostly full of White Dudes From America, with one Black Dude From America, one White Woman From America (each of whom, I am told, results in a cheque going to the union), and a couple of BC actors there for one-liners. At the same time, the UBCP will go out of its way to make sure that volunteer-run sets that pay less than minimum wage can't use their friends who are in Canada on vacation or work-visas.
Most of the cool diversity initiatives I have seen have their origins in ACTRA but from outside of BC. I wish these would be taken more seriously here.
1. I like acting too much to join ACTRA.
If I joined the union as an apprentice, I would not get benefits but also would be barred from shooting web-videos with my friends on weekends - unless I got my friends to kick out all the non-Canadian performers and do lot of union paperwork for a one-day project. Unless I feel like breaking my contract, union apprenticeship is the worst of both worlds. This said, a lot of people break their contract without consequence.
By contrast, SAG apprentices don't get benefits but are allowed to work on non-union shows until they get full membership. It's a shame that we don't have that system.
2. I have moral qualms. I have noticed that the vast majority of UBCP actors don't like their own union, and are only members grudgingly because they feel strongarmed into it - if they don't join, the UBCP will take larger and larger pieces of their paycheques. I do not believe that this is a healthy or fair way to create solidarity. By contrast, other ACTRA pronvincials take smaller pieces and people tend to join because they want to.
Further, as a Canadian concerned with social justice, I find that the UBCP has a lackluster commitment to diversity and making sure Canadians get work. The language in the collective agreement is noble but on the big sets I've been on, the green room is mostly full of White Dudes From America, with one Black Dude From America, one White Woman From America (each of whom, I am told, results in a cheque going to the union), and a couple of BC actors there for one-liners. At the same time, the UBCP will go out of its way to make sure that volunteer-run sets that pay less than minimum wage can't use their friends who are in Canada on vacation or work-visas.
Most of the cool diversity initiatives I have seen have their origins in ACTRA but from outside of BC. I wish these would be taken more seriously here.