SF ShowBiz News: April 2015

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Petition for Percentage Dues to the ADG

Tom T. Taylor has a petition to ask for percentage dues instead of quarterly dues to the ADG. Here's his letter:

Fellow members of the Art Directors Guild:

Have you ever noticed that your union dues regularly increase each year regardless of whether your employment has increased or decreased or which contract rate you have been working under? Your income may have changed dramatically due to flight of work from Southern California, decreases in local job opportunities, increased efficiencies of digital processes, or lower tier contract rates, especially if you have difficulty chasing jobs to other states because you cannot leave family behind for any length of time.

There are now some 25%+ of our ADG membership who are hurting enough to apply for reduced dues rates. Without the reduced dues, a member might be working as little as 64 days of the year yet still have to pay the full dues rate as if he were working 260 days of the year. This means that the members who earn the least income through our union contracts are paying proportionately the highest percentage of their income as dues, while those members who earn the highest income under union contracts pay the lowest percentage of their income as dues to the ADG. It is a very regressive system.

Here is what the ADG offers to members in financial hardship:

A slight dues reduction for members who worked less than 15 days in the craft in the previous quarter. Members may only remain on minimum dues for three consecutive quarters, after which time a member must pay full dues for the next quarter before reapplying for minimum dues. Applications are only accepted within the first 15 days of the quarter.if you can prove financial need, you may apply for $100 dues relief. If accepted, you will receive a $100 credit toward this quarter dues. You must submit an application for each quarter that you are in need.

It is basically a loan that must be repaid when and if you get more work. This presents a considerable office work load to process these many member requests, and adds another cost to our overhead.

At a time when we are struggling as a nation to create a fairer and more equal system of taxation where the wealthiest pay their fair share of taxes, we have our own issues within our union dues system. Our $1650 per year dues ( Art Directors rate) is based on the supposition that it represents 1% of the basic agreement rate (assuming that you received that rate for 52 weeks per year). But when do members work 52 weeks per year, year after year and always under our highest rate contract? So the figure $1650 is just an arbitrary number based on no reality at all. But, paying the same dues rate impacts all members differently.

For example, let's say three different art directors who all pay the same $1650 per year in dues, have very different incomes. One made $50K, one made $100K, and one made $150K. $1650 represents about 3.1% of Art Director A's income of $50K; it represents about 1.7% of Art Director B's income of $100K. And it is about 1.1% of Art Director C's income of $150K. Art Director A earns the least but pays the highest percentage of his income as dues, and Art Director C who makes three times as much income pays the smallest percentage of that in dues.

The Director's Guild, United Scenic Artists local 829, Screen Actors Guild all use a much more progressive percentage based dues structure and have done so for many years: USA 829 takes 2% of gross wages; the DGA has a minimum dues of $200/year but takes 1 1/2% of gross earnings (of up to $300K ) plus 1% of residuals: SAG/AFTRA requires 1.575% of gross earnings ( of earnings up to $500K) members pay a fair dues amount proportional to their income under the union contracts. There is a minimum (floor) and a cap (ceiling) on dues, but those limits are not spelled out here; a research committee can make those recommendations in a future proposal that can be voted on.

Today, the ADG has a wide range of contract rates with the so-called "Basic Rate" being the highest rate contract. But, there has been a proliferation of lower rate contracts now and many members have discovered that the remaining work in L.A. is often at a much lower MOW or Tiered contract rate, and many fewer members work under the Basic Rate than was the case years ago.

But, there has been resistance to even considering researching the possibility of moving the ADG to a percentage based dues system because it is a change that presents unknowns in the budgeting process. Having a predictable ever-increasing dues income regardless of the increase or decrease in member employment, local or distant opportunities, and lower contract rates allows the ADG offices to be less connected from the financial health (or weakness) of the membership it serves.

Yes, this would mean that some members will pay more in dues, but with a reasonable cap level which would have to be determined. Those who have a very good year would also get a larger deduction for dues in their income taxes. If you have an off-year then your dues would be less as well. Those who earn less would still have to pay a minimum dues that covers the IATSE per capita and some costs of the ADG overhead. That would have to be determined by research and experience.

This proposition is not intended to cut any member benefits or services provided by the ADG. This is only about how the union income is derived, not how it is spent. This is about a more fair way to share the costs of our union dues. If our dues were based on actual earnings of members, the union office interest in the support of members job opportunities, improving contract rates and policing jurisdiction would be directly connected to members best financial interests instead of separated, as they are now. Thus, a percentage based dues system would incentivize the union leadership to police contracts and jurisdictions, prosecute infractions, and increase job opportunities for the membership.

Therefore, I propose that research be done to create a plan for how the ADG might change over to and operate under a percentage based dues system. This research should include learning from other unions who use such systems to determine how they are set up, operate, what the minimum and maximum dues rates are, and how they are overseen for compliance. It should also include talking to the payroll houses to determine how check-off dues are normally deducted and forwarded to the union, and how we could accomplish this transition.

The change to a percentage based dues system does not interfere with any of our contracts, it is an internal matter which does not impact the studios of producers. The most challenging part will be making a transition and for that there may have to be some allowance, a willingness to use our bank account as a safety cushion, and thorough research to project an educated estimate of income based on knowable factors of member employment, rates, and comparable union experiences.

If you support the proposal to investigate this idea further and present a proposal which can be debated and voted upon by the membership in the near future, please add your name to this petition to be submitted to the Executive Board.

To Endorse this proposition please go to this site and add you name:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/interested-in-a-fairer-dues-system-for-the-adg

Thank you for your consideration, -Tom T. Taylor