Where's Our Union? Why Hollywood Assistants are Ripe for a Reckoning

Where's Our Union?

Why Hollywood Assistants are Ripe for a Reckoning

By Don Rutledge, former executive assistant at Participant Media

It’s “Hot Labor Summer” here in Los Angeles, a history-defining season stoked by unabashed solidarity. The WGA strike is in full effect, SAG-AFTRA might come next, and unionists across our city are showing up on the picket line. Yet, as inspiring as this is, there seems to be a significant group missing from our industry’s current discourse on organized labor: assistants.

I am one of the approximately 4,000 assistants working in the entertainment industry. In 2021, PayUpHollywood, a grassroots organization that advocates for fair compensation, surveyed 500 admins. The results were egregious: more than 90% of respondents made $50,000 or less from their entertainment job, and 50% made less than $30,000. Los Angeles is one of the top ten most expensive U.S. cities to rent; a resident here without children would need to make $76,700 after taxes to live comfortably. These are shocking statistics, which is perhaps why PayUpHollywood’s 2019 survey of 1,500 assistants found that almost 70% of respondents took second jobs to supplement their incomes. What’s worse, 91% reported increased anxiety as a result of their assistant work, nearly 70% reported an increase in depression, and a quarter reported an increase in substance abuse. We aren’t just paid poorly—our treatment is wholly unethical. It veers on criminal. 

While we’re rolling calls for peanuts, eight industry CEOs raked in nearly $800 million in 2021. These leaders, plus the countless producers on overall deals, agents repping A-listers, and prodigal executives are living the high life while silently underpaying and exploiting their assistants. All this is to say, if you’re from a working-class background, which tends to be Black and Brown Americans, forget it; you’re almost entirely excluded from being the next deciders and makers of our industry.

Our current deciders and makers make claims of “paying your dues;” asserting that “it’s only temporary.” That we’re “lucky to even have this job.” Or my favorite: “There’s no money in the budget.” And what sickens me is that some assistants embrace these claims without further scrutiny. They start to accept this exploitation—and in some cases, harassment so malicious it’s dramatized in films like Swimming with Sharks and The Devil Wears Prada—as just an expected part of the game that must be tolerated. It’s not. 

Assistants should have labor protections and proper compensation, and the best tool we have to enforce these conditions is a union. No group of workers have ever received anything by simply asking please. 

A union for the 4,000 assistants working in entertainment would fundamentally change Hollywood, like it did for directors in 1936 when the Directors Guild of America formed due to exploitation of “long hours, low pay, and no job security.” Or like it did when SAG-AFTRA helped actors, or when the Writers Guild secured TV residuals for screenwriters. In every single case, industry workers organized and were then able to collectively bargain for better pay, better treatment, regulated hours, health insurance, and more.

Organizing can be scary, but don’t believe the myths. Organizing does NOT mean you will hurt your relationship between you and your boss. Pay, benefits, and well-being are separate from your work ethic. If your boss is reasonable, and you work hard, they will understand. Even if in the most extreme instance of being fired for union organizing, retaliation is a federal offense. Legally, your boss can't even question you about your organizing efforts. Most of all, it’s important to remember that you are not easily replaceable. There’s a reason every job posting for an assistant wants “two years at a talent agency.” You try filling your old desk with a competent soul.

When we do organize, there are a few things to consider. First, we need to define what constitutes an “assistant.” One assistant’s duties might be getting groceries and house sitting, while another’s is researching in libraries and scheduling meetings. The endless variations could complicate who qualifies for membership. In addition, how do we ensure union portability? An assistant should be able to maintain membership regardless of job changes and keep his or her union card as they move from CAA to a three-man office. And initiation dues? We’re broke. Perhaps payment plans could be made available for struggling new members. 

And for the executives, producers, and talent reading my words, I would now like to confront your anxieties. A union for assistants would make your life easier too. Rather than wasting time negotiating Benjamins between you and your assistant, there would be an agreed minimum to follow. Healthcare and pensions could be attained through the union instead of your company’s pocket. Training and networking opportunities could all be available and add value to your assistant and thus, to you. Or as we like to call it in scientific Hollywood jargon: a “win-win.”

Although organizing will be a long, delicate operation in which discretion is tantamount, the advantages of a union far outweigh the cons. How much longer do we wait until things change on their own? Will they even change without organized action? 

Next time you’re driving home from work at 8pm in your beat-up Prius, I implore you to ask:

Where’s our union?