“Hollywood” is a union town. Even the “Hollywood” that exists in the UK, Italy and Canada! There are unions for almost all workers on a set and in the theatre, including the director, writers, crew, actors and even casting directors. Most of these organizations are named “guilds” because they don’t find work for their members as many unions do, but for all intents and purposes, they are a union. In the United States, most of the actors unions below are members of the AFL-CIO, as are the unions representing teachers, police and factory workers. Because of this association with the AFL-CIO, union members may be eligible for additional benefits, such as Union Plus college scholarships, auto loans and more.
Children represent a unique population. Acting is the only profession where children are union members, and many professional children are members of at least two unions. Unions provide important protections to child actors. They are known for “collective bargaining” which means that actors negotiate with producers as a group to establish minimum wages, health insurance, and retirement pensions. For children specifically, they regulate work hours, provide for on-set safety, require academic education on set, among other things.
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Guilds-and-Unions.html
In the US, unionism is governed by state law. There are “union states” which include the entertainment hubs of New York and California, and there are “right to work states”. In union states, workers are forced to pay the union dues in order to continue to work, either through membership or as a dues paying non-member (aka Financial Core). In “right-to-work” states, such as Georgia and Florida, actors may choose to join the union, but can choose not to—they can work union and non-union jobs without ever joining as long as they stay within that state. You can read more about this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-to-work_law
Despite the many benefits, most parents will find that joining a union is a crossroads of sorts. It is the point when an amateur actor becomes a professional. There are many considerations including large initiation dues and the banning of non-union work from that point forward. We suggest you make a knowledgeable, well-timed decision. Join when your child is sure they want to make that commitment to a professional career. Joining too soon can drastically slow a child’s career.
Below is a list of unions for performers in the United States, including a PDF specific to children. Further down the page, you will find non-profit organizations (often related to a union) that provide additional services to young performers. Note that similar unions exist in other countries (British Equity, New Zealand Equity, for example) and they are members of the International Federation of Actors. If you are working abroad, you will want to be sure to check the union status of your project before agreeing to work: make sure the project is either a SAG signatory or signed with another member of the FIA. We highly discourage children from working abroad in non-union projects due to the high risk of human trafficking.
The Screen Actors Guild (traditionally film, television and commercials) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (traditionally radio and live television) merged in 2012 to form SAG-AFTRA. The new organization, still referred to as SAG for short, has 160,000 members in the United States that work across all recorded mediums. Young performers have the same membership requirements and dues as adult actors, along with many of the benefits of union membership. When people ask, “Are you union?”, they mean SAG-AFTRA.
Actor’s Equity Association (AEA, or Equity for short) was founded in 1913, and is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 50,000 Actors and Stage Managers. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans.
The American Guild of Variety Artists represents performers in such venues as circuses, casino shows, stand-up comedy clubs, and amusement parks (Disneyland and Universal Studios, for instance). They also represent performers at Radio City Music Hall, including the kid-heavy Christmas Spectacular, and some shows on and off Broadway.
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television, and Radio Artists is a Canadian national organization comparable to SAG-AFTRA in the states. ACTRA has jurisdiction over all English language production, no matter what the method of distribution. This includes commercials, television and film, voiceover, etc. ACTRA is very active in child labor issues but the rules very slightly from province to province. Theatre in Canada is handled by Canadian Actor’s Equity Association (CAEA).