What is SAG-AFTRA Fi-Core?

“Fi-core means you are quitting SAG-AFTRA and giving up your SAG-AFTRA card and membership,” the union says on its website, noting that fi-core fee-paying non-members “are viewed as scabs or anti-union by SAG-AFTRA members, directors and writers – most of whom also belong to entertainment unions.”

How do you go Fi-Core in SAG?

Send a certified letter to the SAG legal department, stating your wish to “enable your financial core status.” If you are currently a union member and live in a union state or a right-to-work state, you must first resign your union membership and then declare your financial core rights.

What is Fi-Core status?

Fi-Core status is the result of Supreme Court decisions that came out of lawsuits involving auto and communications workers and their unions. Any member of any union can resign and go Fi-Core. Our union cannot refuse to comply with national labor law and cannot discriminate against Fi-Core status performers.

What is Fi-Core in acting?

Financial core, or Fi-Core, is a legal designation or status that allows some actors to work in both union and non-union projects. It’s a highly controversial option with huge implications for both actors and unions. SAG-AFTRA members are only allowed to work in the union’s signatory projects.

How much does it cost to join Fi-Core?

Some websites claim that SAG “makes it too easy” to join, and that many actors who plunk down their $3,000 initiation fee just aren’t ready to compete in the rarified air of the union gig.

Can a SAG-AFTRA actor work non-union?

Can non-union actors and SAG-AFTRA members work in a production together? Yes, it’s just a matter of who gets covered by a SAG-AFTRA contract. Under the Student Film and Ultra Low Budget Agreements, only the professional performers in the cast are covered.

Can a SAG actor work a non-union job?

Actors cannot take a nonunion job unless the producer agrees to hire them on a union contract, also known as becoming a “SAG-AFTRA signatory.” The union actually encourages members to audition for nonunion jobs so that those actors can convince more producers to work on a SAG contract.

How many hours can a SAG actor work?

The Screen Actors Guild’s (SAG) national board of directors, finding that excessively long workdays present “a very real danger to the health and safety of our members,” has voted unanimously to work with the industry’s other labor unions to establish a maximum 12-hour workday throughout the film and TV industry.

Can background actors join SAG?

SAG-AFTRA membership is available to those who work in a position covered by a SAG-AFTRA (or AFTRA or SAG) collective bargaining agreement, provided that any person qualifying through work as a background actor must have completed three (3) days of work as a background actor under a SAG-AFTRA (or AFTRA or SAG) …

Can a SAG actor work in a non-union commercial?

“When you’re non-union, you can still audition for SAG roles,” says talent manager Wendy Alane Wright. “If you get a [union] role, you will now become SAG-eligible. And that means the next acting job you get that is SAG, you’re going to need to join the union.”

Is it better to be union or nonunion actor?

Actors typically prefer union acting jobs because they offer higher pay than non-union jobs. Also, there are guaranteed break times, warm meals, better trailers and facilities, and production insurance production.

Do SAG actors get paid for Hold days?

A hold day is simply a day on a shooting schedule, where an actor is on location, but isn’t needed. Under SAG-AFTRA rules, you have to pay that actor for their time, even if they aren’t performing as they can’t take other jobs. Hold Days are most common for on-location shoots.

Can Fi-Core actors still work SAG-AFTRA jobs?

As a “Fee-Paying Non-Member”, the union is powerless to hold you accountable for violating Global Rule One, because union rules only apply to its members. That legal loophole allows Fi-Core actors to still technically work SAG-AFTRA jobs even if they are undermining the union by working non-union jobs too.

What is the difference between Fi-Core and SAG-AFTRA fee paying non-member?

SAG-Producers Pension Plan & SAG-AFTRA Health Plan ─ Eligibility is earned only when you work under SAG-AFTRA contracts. Turning Fi-Core means you become a Fee Paying Non-Member (FPNM). Fi-Core/FPNM can NOT represent themselves as SAG-AFTRA members on headshots, resumes, electronic submissions or web sites.

Can SAG-AFTRA represent me if I’m not working under a SAG contract?

When you’re not working a SAG-AFTRA contract, SAG-AFTRA legal cannot represent you. Furthermore, when you are no longer represented by SAG-AFTRA, you are responsible for collecting your own money. SAG-Producers Pension Plan & SAG-AFTRA Health Plan ─ Eligibility is earned only when you work under SAG-AFTRA contracts.

What is 3//fi-core status?

3// Fi-Core status was created when workers disagreed with paying for their union’s political activities. Say you’re a Democrat and your union endorses and financially supports Republicans; you can resign, not pay for things like that, and still work your union job by paying fees supporting the core functions of the union.