I remember being amazed that actors had a union. I thought only coal miners had unions, or guys that worked in automobile plants. That's an indication of how naive I was.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
People have to be reminded that unions played a very historic role in our economy.
It's hard to make a living in this business. Unions aren't as strong as they used to be. For a journeyman actor - someone who doesn't have a famous name but has consistent work in theater or film or TV - it has become harder to get through, harder to raise a family.
It is true that they paid much more attention to the trade unions because the trade unions were after all speaking for the rights and conditions of working men and women in their employment.
Being a conservative union member is almost like being an actor in Hollywood: You don't dare say it, or you might be injured on the job, or you might be laid off, or your family might have something happen to them.
I sometimes think that unions don't understand that we live in a free society, and people have the right to not select union representation if they don't want it.
When I produce a movie - and I've produced a number of movies, unlike Arnold - yes, I'm frustrated when the union says you can't do this, you can't work past that hour, you've got to break for lunch. But ultimately, they're right. What they do is for everyone's benefit.
My problem with unions is they breed mediocrity.
Hey, I'm a former union president myself and also an attorney that represented a lot of unions.
I ended up an actor, did my first professional union gig in 1974, and I've been doing it ever since.
All the time our union was progressing very nicely. There were lectures to make us understand what trades unionism is and our real position in the labor movement.
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