The UAWA, The United Adult Workers of America.
It should happen really and I for one think that performers should have more power in the industry because realistically they are the only ones who can bring about meaningful positive changes. But it has been tried many times before and in the past it never worked because the performers are apathetic and too transient…And this was ten years ago, they are even more transient and apathetic now….Herding cats across a lake would be easier. I certainly can commend anyone who tries, including Rob and I would certainly support the performers taking charge on their own destiny.
There are so many problems that are counter to the success of an organization such as UAWA one is many performers, particularly male ones straddle the fence, one day they are a performer, the next they are “directing” and currently there isn’t enough work to go around for all the girls in the biz, that’s why escorting has become ubiquitous and as one A List girl told me, “At least I can use a condom and not have to be treated for STD’s every month or two. It takes less time, the guys are nicer and I make more money, why wouldn’t I?”
And I don’t really fault her, she is right. I don’t generally rail on prostitution in porn or anywhere else because it should be legal. For all the ink that the guy, Richard Nanula, has gotten I stayed out of it because it doesn’t interest me and I don’t see the harm in it. I would sa the only thing that is of any interest to me is how Wicked feels about the girl representing them under contract is escorting. If Steve Orenstein is OK with it and Samantha Saint is OK with it and Richard Nanula is OK with it where’s the harm?
I wish this organization much success and if I can help make it so I will. But I fear it will go the way of its predecessors.
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Rob Black takes A Crack At A Performers Union http://t.co/Br4pZgrLVf
A performers union has been talked about off and on since the late 80’s,but for many many reasons…its never happened. Royaltys in this business don’t exist for performers. As for the harm in escorting, this article points out the actual harm..the lack of STD/HIV testing. A john could bring many a virus into the industry and,if someone catches soomething..could spread it into the unchecked world of escorting. Imagine the number of escorts Mr Marcus could have infected if he hired any. (example ). Sadly the personal appearnace market ( clubs,bookstores ) seems to have dried up ,so that avenue of income isn’t what it used to be.Ron Jeremy being an exception.
Do you remember BACE here in Ohio ? Every dancer in the state was made to pay a union/legal fee of $1.00 per shift to cover legal fees for the fight against strip clubs in the late 90’s and early 2000’s by state legislators. We all did so diligently weather we could afford it or not thinking it gave us some protection under the law. It didn’t the only one’s protected were the Club Executives and owners. we were not even allowed to attend meetings and many of us wanted to at least to verify how all of that money was being spent. Shortly there after the DJ tip out was then amended to a mandatory house fee any where from 20.00 to 50.00. the clubs don’t pay girls and they don’t pay their DJ’s the odds of them unionizing anytime soon after that monstrous hustle are slim to none.
The transient nature of the industry, and the apathy of performers are certainly two major factors against the creation of a union. If that is the goal of this organization, to form an actual union, they have their work cut out for them.
But the other main roadblock to forming a real union is the lack of any person, or people, willing to put in the long hard WORK, and the funding to make it possible. You have to have dedicated people, and a sizeable warchest to make something like this happen. Time will tell.
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I do remember BACE and its why when I took over I ran that peice of shit Greg Flaig out on his ass, anything he gets involved in is scummy just by association.
It wasn’t the organization I had an issue with , it was the entire misrepresentation of the dancers in the industry that it presented. we actually paid so that club owners could charge us more to work. We paid so that rich Men could get richer without any viable representation in the industry. A lot of these women were and are very well educated, Had we used that money to pay OUR OWN legal fees the Industry would be so much different today. As it is , I see only a sad version of the Industry that once was. guess I’m old school and I miss the gowns and rhinestones. now days the girls dress like street walkers and no one bothers to complain. There’s no show and definitely no organization other than who’s collecting the almighty house fee. As for Greg Flaig, That son of a Bitch owes me money for selling space in his fucking magazine to dam near every club owner that I knew. I hope he catches a wonderfully painful case of Herpes 🙂
I wonder what this “union” would have done back when Rob Black(aka extreme associates) was bouncing checks on talent left and right. Not sure where Rob found the high horse he is riding but anything he touches turns to crap so this thing doesnt stand a chance.
Nick East for Union President.
Why not? Just don’t put the fence junipers in there. They already fucked the industry up with their
bullshit.
Jessica Drake would do well along with that midget, Tommy Gunn.
Jessica Drake would do well along with that midget, Tommy Gunn.
Jessica Drake would do well along with that midget, Tommy Gunn.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Simple solution, Mike: Include escorts in the union. It’s the same industry anyway with links to the talent agencies which links back to producers/distributors.
The American adult industry is one of the last forms of infamia in this society. Once performers are in, many do sex work for a long period time–they just switch locations…
I was a member of the screenwriters guild for many years. I believe it works in a similar fashion to the screen actors and directors guilds. They work for one very big reason: You can’t work in the industry if you’re not a member. No producer is going to hire you; if a producer tries to hire non-union talent, the crew won’t work on his or her set. And, the unions establish minimum fees for work – the producer has to pay you a minimum of $X for a 30-minute situation comedy; a minimum for a 90-minute television movie; a minimum for a rewrite; a minimum for a treatment, etc.
Conversely, in order to become a member, you have to already have work. As a new television writer, I could only get work when a.) I had an assignment from a production company that had been approved by one of the networks and b.) another screenwriter was willing to be my co-author and guarantee my work even though that screenwriter did no actual writing. That writer got a portion of my pay as a result.
The unions are able to provide the level of benefits they provide members – and believe me, the benefits are wonderful – because the performer makes a significant mandatory contribution from their pay and the producer also makes a larger significant mandatory contribution.
Just because you’re a member and getting work doesn’t mean you get benefits. You only qualify to participate in the benefit program if you are earning a minimum amount of money during a defined period of time. Qualification varies by union. If you fall short, or don’t work during the next defined period of time, you lose your benefits.
Last, it works because you have members who make huge amounts of money subsidizing the participating members who make very little money. I was a television writer in the 90’s making $50,000 a script for television movies of the week. Between me and the production company, we were contributing $15,000 a script. Depending on how it was paid out, that was enough money to qualify for benefits – but it didn’t cover the cost of providing those benefits. The big time film writers making a million a script subsidized guys like me who made just enough to qualify.
Last, you had tons of writers who got a job or two, and contributed dues but didn’t make enough on a consistent basis to qualify for benefits. Example, I was a member for a decade but only made enough for health insurance during three of those years. I never made enough on a consistent basis to vest in the pension program. As a result, my beneficiaries will get a small life insurance policy when I pass, but no pension benefit even though I was a working dues-paying member for years in the Guild.
Now, think of the transient nature of the porn industry. You’re going to have to sign up all of these young chicks as they come off the bus. You’re going to have to enforce against renegade producers with one camera, lights and a girlfriend willing to screw on film. And, if its going to remain financially solvent, you’re going to be collecting dues from a ton of people who will derive no benefit from the union in the way of health insurance or retirement.
If it works like the other unions used to work – I haven’t paid dues for about ten years so am out of the loop today – you’re going to add 25% to a producer’s talent costs. In the screenwriter’s guild, you become an employee of the production company during the period you work on a project, so they’re paying 7.625% of your self-employment tax and they’re contributing 18% towards your pension/health insurance.
If production costs for talent are going to go up by 25%, are producers going to negotiate minimum fees that are 25% lower than they currently pay? If a blowjob is currently $800, will the minimum blowjob fee be $600.
And given that back in my day, you had to make a minimum of about $35,000 to participate in the health insurance plan, will some actress be willing to give 60 blowjobs in order to qualify for health insurance?
Last thought, you can’t unionize escorts – that’s an illegal activity. That’s like unionizing street corner drug dealers or bookies.
This will only work if you get 100% participation from talent right out of the gate. If some talent says, yeah, I want to be part of a union and other talent says, nah, not interested, it’ll never work. Last real world example – in addition to working as a television writer, I worked for 30 years as a magazine writer. I’ve written for every major publishing company in New York. Back in the 90’s, there was a push to create a magazine writers guild that would mimic the screenwriters guild. It never went anywhere because magazine writers are like porn actors. You have a handful of people like me who make a living at it. But, most do it to supplement other income. They don’t want to pay dues because they were never going to make enough to derive a benefit. Meanwhile, the publishers refused to negotiate on minimum rates.
Escorting is a perfectly legal profession. Prostitution is not.
BT, great report with alot of detail. Thank you for that. Rob Black cant add 2 + 2 so its obvious that his forming a union is simply a way for him to try to scam talent again. I can only assume that Rob Black is continuing to live off his daddies money. He spends his days talking crap so its obvious is not shooting.
I’ve been a WGA member since the 80s, albeit I’m an “inactive” member (and have been for quite a while) which means I don’t pay dues. In all that time, I made much more money (as a writer) working non-union writing gigs than the few union gigs I managed to snag. In order to write for non-union producers, however, I had to write under a pseudonym… which a shitload of WGA writers do on a regular basis. Unions have their benefits and their drawbacks.
JimmyD: If you’re a WGA member (I was active for about 10 years in the 90’s – until Regis Philbin, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and reality TV killed the network movie of the week) – you know how things work in terms of the amount of money you have to make in order to maintain your benefits.
My point is that there are two reasons for a union.
One is to provide benefits, like health care and pensions. Health care is really expensive. It takes a lot of dues to cover the cost. It works in the WGA and other guilds because you have stars who make huge sums and huge contributions to subsidize the lesser ranks. No one in porn makes that kind of money for performing on film. And, given the relatively low rate on fees for a scene, people would have to work a lot – and do it year in and year out – to maintain their benefits.
The other reason for a union is to get a guaranteed rate. I’ve never worked in porn, but from everything I read, porn talent can be a bit flakey? I guarantee you that a gal who hasn’t had a scene in awhile will work for less than scale if some sleaze offers her the work. Once that happens, the reason for having a union no longer works.
So that leaves a safer work place. Since the biggest names in porn are saying they are anti-condom, are willing to do double anal and get electrocuted by Kink.com, what exactly is the rally cry? Mandatory handi-wipes? I suppose they could require producers to cover the cost of testing.
I just can’t imagine unionizing an industry where the performers pride themselves on being outlaws who do anything they want, with no restrictions.
BT: No argument here. Those are exactly the reasons I’m pessimistic. It isn’t like this is the first time organizing adult industry workers has been talked about… but then, of course, reality sets in. Some of those realities being things you’ve mentioned.
While the name,United Adult Workers of America surely sounds like a union, I am not sure that is the goal of this new organization. I will give them a little more time to fully explain their goals, and the manner in which they intend to achieve those goals.
But if Black wants to be the head of this new oganization he has to clean up his act a bit. He has alot of baggage himself, but that does not mean he cannot rehabilitate himself and do some good. He does not deny his past, but he needs to rise above the regular industry bullshit and act like a leader. Having katie Summers sticking her ass in the camera on his show yesterday looked like the same old industry bullshit, and nobody is going to take him seriously if he continues with this kind of behavior.
I wish him the best of luck, and hope he is successful. Time will tell.