I think the unions in Holywood should quit taking so much from the workers. Then we (The Crew) could work for less and get points on the backend as actors, directors and producers do. But our union did a deal with producers where we can’t get points on the backend. We only get healthcare and pensions which most will never ever get their entire careers and if they do it will be for 6 months at a time. Yet they continue to allow the producers and movie companies work us for over 8 hours a day sometimes 24 hours in one day. Which it has already been proven that 8 hour days are much more effective and productive than 12 hour days. While 12 hour days stop us from having families and depletes our health. I called the healthcare for the union and asked them how much money they make from us for each day we work and they said they can’t say. Well I have been in business for a while and I know whenever anyone is hiding money ( it is not on our checks what is given to this company) it’s not only illegal, it is for a specific reason. A year later my local had to show the numbers they made, so we could get a new building, 2 million a year in dues, for my small local, and initiations and they spent a million on pay, a year, for our five employees. That is just one local and by the way if you work out of state that is another local for your craft. I didn’t want to be a craftsperson any longer.
After this I met a guy who’s family was in the props department for a long time, he got out, and was making $6,000 a day renting tractors to contractors. He hated the film industry because there is so little pay compared to the real world. But let me ask you this? Do you think that the small film makers with little money trying to fulfill their dreams just like you are to blame for this? Or do you think the unions which are doing Backdoor deals with government officials and insurance agencies, the unions who can afford to work us 8–10 hour days and pay us better, are?
They ( The Unions) are the ones with millions of dollars they take from young people and their dreams with the hope of protection but I will tell you many of the women in my craft have Kidney problems resulting from our inability to even use the restroom on the sets or get up to grab water. Yet our craft unable to fight for even our basic necessities, like getting more pay for each camera or another script supervisor for each camera like the camera crew gets. We can’t even protest to get higher rates because the whole union would have to protest, not just one craft.
Hollywood is a mess because they are trying to create a monopoly with the unions so they use our money and hard work to surprise us and stop us from affording to create our own projects and they tell their union bullies to destroy anyone who tries to create their own projects so they can remain in power. And keep all the money for themselves and have us work for nothing.