USAN ON COMMERCIALS
WE’RE NEGOTIATORS. WE’RE ORGANIZERS. WE’RE EDUCATORS. WE’RE WORKING.
WE’RE NEGOTIATORS
USAN, Unite for Strength, and member leaders from around the country have a powerful voice at the negotiating table. We aren’t afraid to stare the reality of our industry in the face, nor do we shy away from our vision of how we might change that reality. Passion for the work, reliable data, and unwavering commitment to fact and truth are our secret weapons. We’re fearless in our pursuit of commercial contract terms that benefit all performers and can adapt to a media landscape where the only constant is change.
USAN/UFS negotiators lead by putting forth creative, effective solutions to real problems. We have a track record of success. Our members were integral in developing the ACS compensation model – a groundbreaking, innovative, flexible first step toward modernizing our commercial and audio contracts.
In the 2019 Commercials Contract negotiation USAN/UFS members were instrumental in achieving a 6% raise for performers, increased health and pension funding, and increased workplace protections. In addition, we added coverage for Stunt Coordinators for the first time in our Union’s history.
As we gear up for the 2022 negotiation, USAN/UFS members are already hard at work on bold, original ideas to further improve our contracts and organize work. Diversity of experience, well-researched data, and a deep belief in the power and potential of our shared Union are USAN/UFS Negotiators’ guiding principles.
We won’t lie to you.
We’ll continue to work for you.
We’re NEGOTIATORS, and we’ll negotiate strong contracts FOR YOU.
WE’RE ORGANIZERS
Unite for Strength, USAN, and member leaders from around the country stand up to contract injustices and fight for what’s right. We were personally on the frontlines of the 10-month long BBH strike and refused to back down – an effort that concluded with a big win for SAG-AFTRA which brought commercial jobs back to our contract and put more money into our P&H plans.
We also serve as member leaders of the “Ads Go Union” campaign – a member-driven initiative that aims to protect and increase union commercial work opportunities for all members. In our well attended ongoing #AdsGoUnion meetings we hold space for commercial performers to question, complain, congratulate,
and even cry.
We listen.
We learn.
We’re ORGANIZERS, and we’ll organize work opportunities FOR YOU.
WE’RE EDUCATORS
USAN, Unite for Strength, and member leaders from around the country are committed to member and pre-member contract education and we didn’t let the pandemic slow our efforts. Instead of visiting NY/LA acting conservatories in person to speak with pre-members, as we’ve done in the past, we spent 2020 zooming with hundreds of young talent in BFA programs around the country – opening up our educational reach like never before.
We also stayed connected with active members of the NY/LA commercial community through social media. Facts and the truth matter to us.
We go into drama schools, improv theaters, training programs and graduate-level professional degree environments, making ourselves available to young performers, pre-union members, and those wary of joining. We answer questions.
We speak from the heart. We never judge. We aim to inform, to clarify, to inspire – because we are continually inspired by what SAG-AFTRA is today, and by our vision of what it could be tomorrow and beyond.
We’re EDUCATORS, and we never stop learning FROM YOU.
WE’RE WORKING
Like many of you, USAN, Unite for Strength, and member leaders from around the country work consistently in voice-over and on-camera commercials and have skin in the game. We are with you in waiting and audition rooms, whether virtual or in-person, we work on national campaigns, regional commercials and local spots airing across countless platforms, and have been doing so for decades.
While we all know the panic of not booking and have seen our fair share of unpleasantly lean years, our knowledge of the Commercials contract is current and up to date. Our belief in the power of collective bargaining to fix what isn’t working is steadfast. We’re forward-thinking and live in the present, not the past. We deal with what’s in front of us today instead of obsessing about what used to be, or what we used to have “back in the day,” or in the “golden age” when commercials were good.
Commercials are still very, very good – trust us. We’re laser focused on creating more opportunities for more members to work more often in an inclusive, accessible, flourishing industry primed to hire Union members for years to come – and make as much money as possible when you do.
Nostalgia for the past can’t do that. USAN and Unite for Strength candidates can, and we will.
We’re WORKING, and we’ll never stop working FOR YOU.
