Members March to Wall St. Ad Agency

Members assemble to deliver petitions to Droga5. 

Taking the struggle for fair wages to the streets, a group of SAG-AFTRA New York Local members boarded a bus on the morning of Jan. 12 and headed to the Wall Street headquarters of Droga5, a leading digital ads producer. While Droga5’s slogan is “humanity obsessed,” their humanity seems to be absent when it comes to paying actors fair wages. The union had collected over 8,000 petition signatures asking Droga5 and other ad agencies to ensure fair wages and benefits for all, and members traveled to the Droga5 office with the intent of simply delivering the petitions and speaking to a representative. Instead, after peacefully waiting in the lobby for several minutes, our members were confronted by police officers, who had been called to remove them from the premises. “What are they afraid of?” asked New York Local President Mike Hodge, who led the event. Despite refusing to accept the petitions, Droga5 received our message loud and clear: SAG-AFTRA members are united, committed, and will not tolerate employers who undermine middle-class wages and exploit vulnerable performers. Video of the Droga5 event has been viewed almost 800,000 times on Facebook — more than any other SAG-AFTRA video! Watch it here. 

The petition delivery was just the latest piece in an ongoing initiative directed at organizing the digital advertising industry. SAG-AFTRA is also running a social media campaign on the issue, using the hashtag #AdsGoUnion on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, adding to our #BestintheBiz hashtag from the overall Commercials Organizing and Recapture Initiative.  

This article was originally featured in the April 2016 local e-newsletter.