Eden & Karen

Really this is a post about Eden Espinosa and her taking a stand against Actors Equity and not paying her equity dues. It’s embarrassing. She’s embarrassing herself. She clearly has no idea what a union is. She’s clearly anti-union if this is what she thinks she needs to do to take a stand against equity. YOUR DUES, eden, help pay the people at equity that are running your union and HELPING U. But hey, don’t pay your dues. Lose your health insurance. See how that goes for u. What does she want? To work? Duh we all do. Does she want answers to WHEN she’s gonna work? Duh we all do. WE’RE IN A FRICKING PANDEMIC AND A VACCINE WAS JUST CREATED A FEW MONTHS AGO and you’re complaining how equity isn’t helping u and giving u answers? THEY DONT’T HAVE ANSWERS YET CAUSE WE’RE STILL IN A PANDEMIC. And Karen. I can’t. Sit down, Karen.

I would like to see a proposed plan on paper from the folks who are demanding AEA do something. The least they can do is present us with a highly detailed, point-by-point breakdown of exactly what they think AEA should be doing. Not just demand "transparency" or "justice" or shout in all caps - I'm talking big picture stuff with specific, measurable results and a workable timetable. On workplace safety and harassment - breaking out expectations for a COVID-19 workplace return, sexual harassment issues, abusive workplace issues. On diversity and inclusion efforts. On health benefits. They want change so badly, what does that actually entail? We nee more than just a "bigger picture" outlook. If they think they can do better than the people running the union - or the ones they themselves elected to Council - now is the time to show us why we should support them. Do they want to be leaders and an active part of the process? Or do they just want to publicly shame present AEA leadership and not actually have a productive conversation? It's kind of hard to tell right now. Otherwise it's just more yelling from people who make noise instead of change.

OhBoy17 said: "I would liketo see a proposed plan on paper from the folks who are demanding AEA do something. The least they can do is present us with a highly detailed, point-by-point breakdown of exactly what they think AEA should be doing. Not just demand "transparency" or "justice" or shout in all caps - I'm talking big picture stuff with specific, measurable results and a workable timetable. On workplace safety and harassment - breaking out expectations for a COVID-19 workplace return, sexual harassment issues, abusive workplace issues. On diversity and inclusion efforts. On health benefits. They want change so badly, what does that actually entail? We nee more than just a "bigger picture" outlook. If they think they can do better than the people running the union - or the ones they themselves elected toCouncil - now is the time to show us why we should support them. Do they want to be leaders and an active part of the process? Or do they just want to publicly shame present AEA leadership and not actually have a productive conversation? It's kind of hard to tell right now. Otherwise it's just more yelling from people who make noise instead ofchange."

You are spot on! This is what I am talking about! Thank you!

Tag said: "Honest question:Pre-pandemic, when was the last time Eden did a AEA show?"

The FALSETTOS national tour.

Equity has failed to protect their members, and this is exactly what they deserve at this point. There has been absolutely no communication, particularly for members who don’t reside in the city.

I'd imagine a major issue for many members -- especially those affected -- would be Equity denying permission for proposed productions to proceed even after hundred-plus-page safety documents were submitted, theaters spent thousands of dollars upgrading HVAC and retrofitting their spaces to allow for social distancing, etc., all under very vague rationale.

The union has essentially created a system through which most of its members can't work, then penalized them for not working.

Updated On: 4/16/21 at 03:00 PM

I think a lot of this comes back to the fundamental flaw of AEA: That there are over 51,000 members yet under 20,000 jobs available each year (and I'm talking in a normal, non-covid year). Meaning every single year at least half of the union won't work. And with AEA refusing to let their members take non-union jobs, they are in effect preventing their members from finding employment, by accepting and collecting dues from more than twice as many people as they have jobs for. So now this is being amplified even further by a pandemic that has cut jobs even more and as a result kept more members from getting healthcare and all the benefits you join a union to get. And with them continuing to refuse to make exceptions for unemployed people to take non-union gigs and continuing to refuse to back down in any negotiations about returning to work, thereby extending the length of time people are out of work even further, of course they're angry. And they have a 100% right to be, because frankly their union continues to fail them.

Updated On: 4/16/21 at 03:40 PM

Kad said: "There is a great deal of valid criticism toward Equity and its leadership to be had, particularly the lack of proactive communication that, frankly, would have nipped most of this in the bud.

But a lot of the valid criticism is being drowned out by a lot of misinformation, anger, and lack of understanding of what a union can and cannot do.

Yes, Equity League had to increase its eligibility requirements for insurance. Because it had to to stay solvent, since it is entirely funded by employer contributions that dried up. In this country, *someone* has to pay for healthcare, and in this case it's theater employers. There is no funding for this organization to give all Equity members insurance.

I'm also not sure what Equity could have done to support its members in the pandemic. It got payouts for the affected, in-progress contracts. It has absolutely no power over who gets vaccinated or when. It is one voice in hundreds representing shuttered industries. Equity has laid off nearly half of its staff, and it was already understaffed for what people want it do and be.

I don't believe that Eden is anti-union. But I do believe that anti-union sentiment is so thoroughly pervasive in American culture that even people who think of themselves as progressive will act against unions even if they do not believe they are actively doing it. So we have workers lashing out at a labor union.

Meanwhile nobody's marching on the Broadway League, are they? "

Agree 100% with u, Kad.
I don’t think I’m a Karen - Karen qualities sometimes... probably yes. Lol!

Broadway61004 said: "Kad said: "If a union allows its members to take nonunion jobs indiscriminately, then what is the point of a union? That is saying: “we will ONLY work under these terms... except, yknow, whenever we don’t feel like it.” It weakens the bargaining power of the union immensely."

I'm not advocating for union members to be able to take non-union jobs completely indiscriminately, but I think if you ask most actors would you rather work at a summerstock or have to babysit for a year, they'd rather be on stage performing. I would absolutely advocate for stipulations that say "if you are offered union work, you have to accept that before you can take any non-union work". But again, if the point of a union is to help your members be able to find acting jobs (or stage management jobs, of course), yet there is literally no possible way for more than half of them to work in a given year, that's a major issue. So to me the options are either a) drastically reduce membership or b) allow your members to seek whatever work they can find when you don't have work opportunities for them."

The members are not union employees. The union represents the members. The union does not offer members "work opportunities". You clearly have no idea what a union is, how it operates, etc.