Dues Blues
I found a way to basically “glitch” my way into SAG-AFTRA. You can’t work in the union without getting a union job and you can only “technically” work a union job if you’re in the union. Well, I basically took a non-union job and asked them if they would “declare it union” (more complicated than this but I’m tired and don’t have all week).
I then paid the upfront costs (fines for the company for not choosing a union actor on a union job), hired an out-of-state law firm to make the job paperwork official, and then sent in my union application a month later. Three years later I’m a steady working member, have full healthcare, and no one is the wiser (or they don’t care cause I pay the dues).