I'm curious, how long have you been in the union (I'm assuming of course that you are) and what department you work? I'm going to guess your g&e. I actually made the decision to specifically do commercials - though other projects get thrown in too - after doing 5 years in features. My favorite thing about them is that no matter how bad or good they are there's a definite end date. Unlike film and to some extent television where the schedule can suddenly be weeks longer than you expected. But for guys/gals that work commercials on the regular I'd say they might disagree about not getting killed hour wise. Most commercial shoot days are one or two days ish? You have to therefore book multiple shoots in a week - meaning you're not grabbing that 6 or 7 day pay bump and turn around time is not considered because you're working for different companies. It's by no means always heinous! But for those of us that aren't sitting by the craft service table or smoking, it can lead to very long tiring weeks. PA's aren't allowed to be on flat rate days any more, though I understand there are ways to get around it. They are however based on a 12 hour day and when given OT it's normally at only time and a half equaling about $21 an hour after 12 hours. And since they're first and last on set on every job they go from shoot day to shoot day constantly working the longest craziest hours making at most around $400 (if they put in a double day) for the day. Even the lowest man in each department makes more than that, usually without OT. I'm not saying all gigs are terrible, in fact I feel lucky I'm able to do what I do. I'm just saying there's plenty of people on set that a 12 hour day doesn't apply to and many of them get paid the least. I've enjoyed the back and forth @pocketchange. I think positive change can only happen when people are willing to listen to all sides!
RE: Hours of a (television/film/media) Crew Member