SAG-AFTRA Membership Climbs to Record Levels, Raising $1 Billion in Member Fees and Non-Member Fees in its First 10 Years

Special: According to financial reports submitted by the Department of Job USA, SAG-AFTRA has collected more than $1 billion in dues and “agent fees” from its active members and non-core financial members since SAG and AFTRA merged 10 years ago. .

In a sign of their relative strength at the time of their merger in 2012, the Screen Actors Guild had 129,092 active members and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists had 74,389, most of whom were members of both associations. In the 10 months before the merger, SAG collected $43,873,668 and AFTRA $26,824,853.

SAG-AFTRA, the entertainment industry’s largest association, had a record 171,157 active dues paying members as of April 30, 2022, the end of its most recent fiscal year. That’s about 6,000 more members than the previous year.

Still, the $101.8 million in member and non-member “agency fees” it collected last year was more than $6 million in the prior year, largely due to the spread of fees paid to members during the pandemic. Taxes are the guild’s biggest source of income.

SAG-AFTRA’s membership has remained relatively stable since the merger, which started with 168,593 active members. That number dropped to 156,894 in 2014 and 156,843 in 2015, but has been increasing every year since then.

However, these membership numbers do not include key financial non-members, also known as “agency payers,” who are “viewed as scabs or anti-union by SAG-AFTRA members, directors, and writers,” according to SAG-AFTRA. . – many are also members of recreational associations.”

According to the latest report, the guild’s non-financial core members are 4,486, numbers that have grown steadily over the past 10 years and have doubled since 2013. Still, their numbers represent only 2.6% of active members. low for many unions nationwide. Financially, non-members only pay the portion of union dues that goes directly towards meeting the costs of collective bargaining, contract execution, and contract administration, but are not required to pay the portion of dues that goes towards lobbying or political activity.

Tax cuts are minimal, less than 5%, and they cannot vote in union elections or run for union presidents. Also, they cannot claim union membership on their resumes or passport photos. But during strikes they can work without penalty for non-union demonstrations and cross-strike lines.

Some switch to fi-core to be able to work on non-union photo shoots, but others say they do so for political reasons: They don’t like unions in general or they don’t want to be paid for their union’s political work.

SAG-AFTRA reported that it spent $1,097,586 last year on “political activities and lobbying” to support legislation that benefits its members. However, the Guild does not endorse or endorse political candidates.

One of the union’s biggest expenditures last year, as always, was representation activities, representing $96 million, up from $71.8 million the previous year.

The union’s financial reports, known as the LM-2 reports, show that total wages paid to their employees were $42,963,561 last year. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s national executive director, is the union’s highest-paid employee, although a significant portion of the $989,700 he received last fiscal year came from the accrued vacation and vacation time he was entitled to in previous union positions.

When he became national CEO last year, his salary was $770,000. By comparison, WGA West executive director David Young earned $897,371 and DGA national executive director Russell Hollander earned $725,000 last year. Assuming the guild’s top post in June 2021, Crabtree-Ireland has been the guild’s general counsel since 2006 and its director of operations since 2014. He previously served as the Screen Actors Guild’s Deputy National Executive Director and was a major contributor. pre-merger efforts.

SAG-AFTRA declined to comment for this report.