Hollywood shows unions how to let workers shine

Awards season in Hollywood invites us to celebrate stars of the screen — their creativity and dazzling talent. But the greater marvel may be the policies of the professional organization that represents them.   

Behind the award-worthy performances is a union that bucks the traditional collective bargaining model. It deserves a closer look.

The Screen Actors Guild, now combined with the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, represents more than 160,000 actors, dancers, singers and voiceover artists. In doing so, it prioritizes talent over seniority. The approach is far too rare among labor unions.   

For many industries, unionization imposes one-size-fits-all solutions and merit goes unrewarded. Workers who want and deserve better salaries are stuck with the standard rate negotiated by their union and employer. Meanwhile, unions protect employees regardless of their performance — even in critical industries such as nursing and education, where substandard work can harm others directly.  

That’s in part because most unions see seniority as paramount. A teachers union, for example, insists that a younger teacher cannot be paid more than her older colleagues, no matter how well she performs in the classroom. To protect seniority, such unions establish not just a pay floor but also a pay ceiling. The system disincentives ingenuity, creativity and hard work. It can be particularly unattractive to younger employees who want to be rewarded for their effort. 

Entertainment unions such as SAG-AFTRA, on the other hand, set only a salary floor. Many sports unions take a similar approach. Members can expect a minimum salary but, from there, can negotiate higher pay depending upon their unique talents and ability to draw an audience. “Nothing,” the general contract for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists reads, will prevent a performer from “negotiating and obtaining better conditions and terms of employment” than those in the union contract. 

In other words, actors are free to compete for the most competitive terms they can get. Some are paid more for being better at their craft, not simply for logging yet another year on the job. Under this model, people of extraordinary talent are not limited by arbitrary pay limits and workers are motivated to continually sharpen their skills.

Granted, the model isn’t perfect. In return for representation, Screen Actors Guild members abide by what’s known as Global Rule One: Union actors won’t work on non-union projects. The result can be a monopoly, where production companies must comply with union demands if they want enough actors, and the right actors, for their projects. 

Nevertheless, the core values — merit-based pay, worker autonomy, incentivizing and rewarding excellence — are on point.  

So, why do so many unions still cling to an industrial, one-size-fits-all model that’s a century old? It does not incentivize productivity, nor does it reward the best and brightest among workers. That union model may have benefitted 20th-century factory employees, but it falls flat in today’s world of skilled and highly mobile workers.

The Screen Actors Guild succeeds because it has evolved to meet the needs of a 21st-century workforce. It does not use a traditional union operating model but acts more like a professional association. It provides valuable services and represents the diverse needs of individual members. 

Other unions should take note, as should policymakers. When the laws governing unions don’t account for employees’ needs, policymakers can and should take action. One promising example is the Employee Rights Act, introduced in Congress in 2022. The legislation would allow employers to give deserving employees pay raises, regardless of union contract stipulations. By restoring the link between merit and reward, the measure would put employees back in charge of their own professional success.  

As workplaces become increasingly diverse and specialized, thoughtful policy and 21st-century union models must become the rule, not the exception. Hollywood isn’t the only place where excellent workers can shine. 

F. Vincent Vernuccio (@vinnievernuccio) is a senior labor policy adviser for Workers for Opportunity and president of Institute for the American Worker. He is author of “Unionization for the 21st Century: Solutions for the Ailing Labor Movement.”