My Union Story

By Pat Alger

I am proud to say I have been a union member since 1982. I moved to Nashville from Manhattan in July of 1981, where a producer from the Backer and Spielvogel ad agency had heard me sing at a club in New York’s Greenwich Village and made a note of my name. Having been here for only six months or so with not much going on at that point, I was quite surprised to get a phone call from the agency asking me if I’d be interested in flying back up to NYC to sing a country version of a beer commercial. I had no experience singing commercials but I was a friend of a great singer named Florence Warner, who had made a “fortune” in the jingle business, so I immediately said yes. Besides, my wife was pregnant and I needed every penny to pay for the impending hospital bills.

Upon arriving at a posh hotel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, I was picked up in a Lincoln town car and hustled across town to a TV sound recording studio. They were treating me like a professional jingle singer, but when they asked about my AFTRA card and union membership, I had no idea what they were talking about. I was immediately informed that when I returned to Nashville I would be dropping by the AFTRA office and becoming a member. Whatever it takes, I thought.

It was New York City in the winter and I had a little head cold, but to them that just made me sound more country. The sessions were a big success and I became the last vocalist to sing “If you’ve got the time — we’ve got the beer — Miller tastes too good to hurry through” the famous Miller beer commercial that was retired six months later. I returned to Nashville immediately, dropped by AFTRA and joined by paying a percentage of the initiation fee each month for six months. Strange things began to happen. Checks came to my P.O. box every two weeks and some of them were big. I got a letter saying I had qualified for family health coverage. After 13 weeks, the payments started all over again. This union thing was really working out. But most importantly, 33 years ago, my son was born healthy and happy and the AFTRA health plan paid for almost 100 percent of the cost. I was sold on the union.

I began to sing demos and was able to keep qualifying for health coverage for a while, and eventually my co-publisher and I signed the Songwriter Demo Contract that Randy Himes had put together for staff songwriters who sang their own demos. About eight years ago, I was asked if I would be interested in running for a seat on the Local Board. The union had done a lot for my family and me, but I had done very little for the union, so I said yes and I have served on the board ever since. I met some of my heroes on this board — great legends like Jeannie Seely, Jan Howard and Jim Ed Brown, and some of Nashville’s best contemporary songwriters and performers too. I enjoyed getting involved and seeing up close what the union was doing for us and I really got to know our incredible staff.

When SAG and AFTRA merged a few years back, I was asked if I would be interested in running for president. I was unsure of what to do about it. When election time came around, several people convinced me I was the guy for the job, and I agreed to run and was duly elected. These past two years in the newly merged union have been nothing if not interesting. Our local suffered the loss of its longtime executive director, many of the longest-serving and most loyal board members became disillusioned and the fun meter went down pretty low. But here at the end of my term, it looks like many of the issues have finally been resolved and we have a full board of 20, a wonderful new executive director and a new president-elect and officers that I know will be doing a great job.

There is no end to this story. The union stays strong because good people get involved. I’m glad I did and encourage all of our members to consider giving some of their time in service of their fellow members, and I look forward to being replaced someday by someone younger and brighter than me. I don’t know what I would have done without the union, but I am grateful for what the union has done for me. Thanks for the opportunity to serve.