AEA and SAG-AFTRA Member Wins $500 in Union Plus American Dream Sweepstakes
Each week during the Union Plus American Dream Sweepstakes, 12 winners were randomly drawn to receive a $500 Mastercard® gift card prize. Read David Fairhurst's story below, and learn more about all of the winners at unionplus.org/winners.
David Fairhurst, of Brooklyn, NY, has always been an aficionado of the arts. As both an Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) and a Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) member, his professional background includes both television acting and theater.
“For myself, and most actors, the day-to-day consisted of looking for work mostly —sending out headshots, going to auditions, researching upcoming projects. When you’re an actor, you actually spend most of the time not acting, but looking for work,” he explained. “I had some small roles in TV shows, like Law & Order. I also did a lot of theater as well.”
Fairhurst recently learned that he was randomly drawn as a $500 winner in the Union Plus 30th Anniversary American Dream Sweepstakes.
The Union Plus member benefits program celebrated three decades of serving union members with an American Dream-themed sweepstakes sponsored by the Union Plus Credit Card Program.* Each week, 12 winners were randomly drawn to receive a $500 Mastercard® gift card prize. And, one winner, Frank Valone, an AFSCME retiree, was drawn to win a $30,000 grand prize. Read Frank’s story.
When asked to describe what the “American dream” means to him, which was the theme of the sweepstakes, Fairhurst spoke to the value of work passion and the protection that unions offer.
“I think the American dream is being able to make a living doing work that you love, that is respected - and hopefully making more money than your parents did!” he laughed.
“I think unions certainly have a long history of helping members achieve the American dream. It’s very easy to exploit actors because they’re mostly young, very ambitious, and desperate to work - even for free. But you can’t make a living that way. There needs to be some standards and basic salary requirements. Without the AEA and SAG-AFTRA, it would be impossible to be an actor. That’s what’s great about them.”
Fairhurst told Union Plus that the $500 he won is, “more than likely going to end up being spent on gifts for family and friends.”
To read more Union Plus American Dream Sweepstakes winners’ stories, visit unionplus.org/winners.
*Credit approval required. Terms and conditions apply. Union Plus Credit Cards are issued by Capital One, N.A. pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated.