EQUITY MEMBER BANNED FOR WORKING!

Bragging on the front page of their newsletter, the membership board of the Actor's Equity Association denied reinstatement of a member who had resigned her union affiliation in order to take a roll in a non-union production. In justifying their decision, the committee referred to the accussed as a "scab" and her actions as traitorous and immorally dedicated to her own personal ambition.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the ambition of all actors to ... oh, I don't know ACT? Isn't the purpose of a union to help their membership to ... oh, I don't know ... WORK? This member played by the rules by resigning her membership in a union which did absolutely NOTHING to get her a job and take a role that she got on her own. The union feels justified to use her as an example to the entire membership that working in your chosen profession will NOT be tolerated.

This is confirmed by their own website which states that ...

“Although we are sympathetic to those members who will be affected by this resolution, it is a sacrifice that has to be made in order to achieve our ultimate goals.”

When you consider that according to the latest estimates, no more than 3% of the entire union membership makes a living as an actor FULL TIME, isn't it impractical and unrealistic to expect the other 97% to spend the prime of their careers being waiters and refuse work in order to make sure the A list can keep their cushy gigs on Broadway?

I also love how this member is referred to as a "scab," but actor's unions like SAG were more than happy to grant NON UNION actors SAG Cards if they picketed for two weeks during the last actor's strike!

My friend Miriam likes to call that hypocritical.