Re: RAT union panel discussion

[Gabriele Schafer <gaby@ratconference.com>]

Travis and Cat,

[[[   However, there are other union / small theater issues:
The argument that you hear in cities other than NYC and LA is that union
rules prohibit actors from working at non-union theaters, and no middle
ground has been established -- as it has in LA and NYC. That lack of
compromise seems to me to be a major issue affecting RAT-type theaters.
  
Another issue would be: what are unions doing to increase performance
opportunities for members? If 85% of all current equity members are
unemployed at any one time, that seems to me to be a crisis. In a way, this
means that the union is colluding with management to keep the pool of
actors vastly greater than demand, thus driving *down* costs. The union
then becomes more of an accreditation body (like an engineering society)
than a union. ]]]


It's these two issues that I'm interested in because they directly and
concretely affect the artist/audience in a community and what does and
doesn't get conferred the title "professional."  A discussion on the wider
subject - unions yea or nay - would get too abstract I'm afraid and is
inherent to a degree in the above issues.  I.e., it's conceivable to get
contractual parity compromises -- given enough pressure -- whereas getting
rid of unions all together is not in the cards any time soon.




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