Our goal is to educate and organize as many entertainment workers as possible to support CalCare/NYHA. The private health insurance industry has infinite money. The only thing we have is The People. We are our only weapon. Our numbers. This means we must engage with our union siblings and leaders, our coworkers on sets, at agencies, studios, and production companies - union or non-union - to bring them into the campaign. Democrat or Republican, CalCare/NYHA will benefit their lives, and so they must join the fight to pass it. Because the truth is, it’s not going to pass if they don’t! The private insurance industry has more power over California & New York Democrats than we do now. But we can change that if we grow in size and strength.

Things you can do NOW, on your own:

Sign our petition: https://forms.gle/H3q7jjegjKvd4JpU6

Sign the California Nurses Association’s petition so you can receive direct campaign updates and/or get involved organizing your community outside of your Hollywood union: https://act.medicare4all.org/signup/calcare-mfa/

Sign up to receive newsletters from the Campaign for NY Health: https://www.nyhcampaign.org/getinvolved

Follow and share us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/entertainment4singlepayer/

Email Hollywood4CalCare@gmail.com. We can connect you to an ongoing campaign within your union or help you start one!

- Arrange an Entertainment4SinglePayer presentation for union committees, TV and film crews, and workplaces with the goal of educating as many workers as possible about CalCare/NYHA. Are you on a committee? Do you know anyone who is? Ask them if they can spare 20 minutes for a presentation during their next meeting. We have a slideshow and can stick around for questions.

- Seek out leaders (officially elected or just natural/popular) to advocate for CalCare/NYHA within their networks.

- Organize union-specific CalCare/NYHA town halls with nurses union representatives and local CalCare/NYHA-supporting lawmakers.

- Participate in legislative visits with Assemblymembers and State Senators so constituents can directly urge their representatives to cosponsor and vote YES on CalCare/NYHA. Develop a longterm relationship with your rep! (Look up your reps now! Get to know their stances on issues you care about! https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/ / https://www.mygovnyc.org/)

- Establish a CalCare/NYHA Committee within your union.

- Pass a CalCare/NYHA resolution at your union’s next convention!

- Seek an official union endorsement for CalCare/NYHA from all I.A.T.S.E. locals, SAG-AFTRA, the WGAW, the DGA, Teamsters Local 399, LiUNA! Local 724, and the AFM.

CNA’s CalCare talking points.

CNA’s CalCare linktree.

NYHA: https://www.nyhcampaign.org/aboutnyha

Check out the results from Gavin Newsom’s “Healthy California for All Commission” that studied single-payer between 2019 and 2022 and found that transitioning to a single-payer system will save California billions of dollars.

SEND THIS EMAIL to your friends and colleagues:

Hi [COLLEAGUE/FRIEND],

I’m reaching out on behalf of Entertainment4SinglePayer, a group of entertainment workers organizing our unions to support #CalCare & the #NYHealthAct: policy bills that would establish Medicare for All-type health care systems in California and New York. You might recognize us from our website, Instagram, petition, or from the union endorsements we helped secure for the 2024 CalCare bill, AB 2200, from IATSE Locals 705 and 871. 

My group is working to get [OUR UNION] to join the long list of unions that endorse this critical policy. Entertainment workers really need CalCare & the NYHA!

Why? Single-payer bills would:

1. Give California & NY the single largest advantage in the fight to bring work home. While a tax incentive allows us to compete with other states, a statewide universal health care system would allow us to compete with countries that provide health care to their citizens. Our private health insurance system is driving global tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Disney out of the country.

2. Allow our union contract negotiators to focus on other pressing issues our members care about, like rates, jurisdictions, job classifications, and working conditions. Under our current system, they spend half the time in the negotiating room fighting for our increasingly (and uncontrollably) expensive health insurance plans.

3. Free up our members to take better jobs and negotiate for better rates because we would no longer be beholden to our employers for health care.

We are organizing union members to urge [OUR UNION] to:

1. Form a coalition with the other unions that support CalCare like the California Nurses Association (CNA), CA Federation of Teachers, UAW Region 6, the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, & the California School Employees Association, and the unions supporting the NYHA in NY like NY State Nurses Association, 1199 SEIU, and UAW, DC37 Local 1113, and the UE’s Eastern Region.

2. Pass a resolution to support / officially endorse CalCare & the NYHA.

3. When the next CalCare/NYHA bill is introduced, coordinate a mass campaign with other unions to get the legislature to finally pass this policy.

I’d love your support on this critical issue facing our state and our industry. If you’re interested in getting involved with our campaign, please sign and share this petition with your network. Our current for-profit health insurance system is driving productions out of the country, weakening our unions, bankrupting patients, and making us sick. A better future is possible, but CalCare/NYHA isn’t going to pass without a loud and passionate demonstration of support from entertainment.

Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

In Solidarity,

[Entertainment4SinglePayer Member]