The stated primary objective of the AEA proposal was to raise actors' compensation from its current stipend for performances to the minimum hourly wage for rehearsals and performances; an approximate increase of 1,000%. Advocates of the AEA plan argued that actors were worth minimum wage while its opponents felt that actors were worth so much more than minimum wage that LA's initimate theatre (which was never intended as a profit-making proposal) couldn't possibly afford to pay them what they were worth, and they'd rather volunteer their talents for the stipend than topple the fragile economy of the artistic community by demanding a wage that was already beneath them.