Theatre Design & Technology - May 1966 - 6

AGMA 2

AEA

AGYA

ATPAM

SSDC

EXAMINATION

50.-75.

INITIATION

$200.

75.-150.

25.-150.

20.

260.-500.

200.

100.

50.-1,000.

YEARLY DUES 1

$30. 3

36.-300.

32.-250.

24.

4.55 4

48 6

30 .*60. 2

48.-84.

Key:
1

Additionol sums may be added for union welfare plans, special projects, assessments, etc.

Depends on the membership classification.

Plus $10.00 for every $2,500 yearly earnings increment.

Plus 2}2 percent of the salary earned under union contract.

Varies according to the local.

Plus 3 percent of earnings.

UNION FEES AND DUES

Table IV

effective protector, and in 1912, a committee of its
members began to consider the possibility of a new
or improved association. By May of 1913, the committee had drafted the Constitution and By-Laws
AAAA control is concentrated in an execut ive counc i I
of Actors' Equity Association.
called the International Board. It is composed of a
maximum of three Counci I Members representing any The new group also encountered difficulties.
Six
one Branch.
The representatives are entitled to years later its position improved, however when the
collectively cast one vote for every 300 active AAAA was granted an AFL charter and subsequently
Branch members.
brought Equity into the Federation. With the support
of unions such as the AFM and IATSE, the actors
The AAAA's major concern is with the relations of
weathered t"e Strike of 1919 and emerged as a
its Branches to each other in matters of jurisdiction
recognized bargaining agent.
and infringement of territory. The international body
has the ultimate right to suspend a Branch if it fai I s Five days after this strike began, chorus performers
to recognise a Board decision or award.
joined the fight and formed a separate Chorus Equity
Association (CEA). A year later CEA voted a pracEach
The power of the parent union is limited.
tical amalgamation in which the two independent
Branch retains full autonomy in internal matters,
organizations shared a common Council (total merger
property, and relations between its members.
with AEA was accomplished in 1955).
The Four A's may not order its Branches to partIcIThese early advances led to AEA establishment of a
pate in a sympathy movement without the individual
union shop (1924), control of alien actors (1928), the
Branch's approva I. However, no member of a Branch
franchise of theatrical representatives (1929), minican participate in the sympathy strike of any other
mu m wage standard s (1933), and rehearsa I expen se
Branch, nor can a Branch call its own strike, without
payments (1935). Perhaps of greatest importance is
International approval.
The AAAA also approves
the fact that AEA has always advocated the principle
interchangeabi Iity agreements between its Branches
of arbitration in contract disputes.
and holds final right of appeal for any union member.
The Branches gain their AFL-CIO affi liation through
the parent, which in turn holds a prime charter from
the Federation.

The five theatre Branches of AAAA include Actors'
Equity, American Guild of Musical Artists, American
Guild of Variety Artists, Hebrew Actors Union, and
the Italian Actors Union. The AAAA also oversees
Branches concerned with the screen, radio, and
te I ev i s i on .

ACTORS' EQUITY ASSOCIATION (AEA) Historically,
there have been several groups organi zed to lessen
the inequa I ities between the actor and his emp loyer.
One of these was born about 1896 and was called the
Actors' Society of America. However, it never gathered the strength necessary to establish itself as an

Recent union advances have included the organization
of industrial shows, modification of rules governing
talent agencies and their relationship with actors,
establishment of Canadian jurisdiction, organization
of Off-Broadway, and improved salaries, fringe benefits, and working conditions-including an enforceable
"backstage safe and sanitory" code. 3
AEA feels that its most controversial achievement
was the establishment of a welfare fund and pension
plan in 1960. 4 Thi s was one of the issues contributing
to the Broadway Blackout of that year. Equity has

IUSITT

THEATRE DESIGN AND lECHNOl-lX;Y

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - May 1966