Hollywood CEOS To SAG: We Tell You What The Deal Is, Not Other Way Around

COMMENTS (33)

• I don’t know what Harold is thinking but he is in major hot water.

  To say that the WGA strike was a massive failure is a a lie as long as the Mississippi River. First off, the WGA didn’t need shareholders, it just needed fear that the Oscars were going to turn into the same major farce that was the 2008 Golden Globes. This is because both the WGA and SAG were standing in solidary with one another. If the WGA was striking on Oscar night, there was no way that the ceremony would have gone on as planned, in which the biggest star was likely to be Jon Stewart. The best we would have gotten was clips from other ceremonies, and Stewart reading the list of winners. Fear of that happening lead to the deal. If the WGA knew that going into the strike, it would have set the strike date for January 7th, 2008 and not November 5th, 2007.

  Another thing about the WGA contract was that the WGA pushed DVD residues so they can try to gain a foothold into new media. The only difference is that the increase in DVD residues was dropped because the WGA would be a fool to not try to gain the new media foothold. It is called priority.

  The way that the WGA and SAG are united is because the AMPTP are trying to acheieve massive rollbacks in the SAG contract including rollback of provisions that have been included since the 1930′s. The AMPTP tried another thing with the WGA and failed. The current WGA contract includes not one rollback from a previous contract. Yes that contract might be crappy as some say, but it is much much better than the original contract proposed by the AMPTP.

  As for those shareholders, the only way that they will save SAG is if SAG goes on strike. That is because the major studios wouldn’t have any major product if a strike was timed to begin March 3rd or February 23 which are both Mondays and one has to be the day following the Oscars. Right now, the Moguls are so scared of SAG that they will have to come to a fair deal sooner or later, but the studio junk would be washed out with families being forced to attend independent films and loving them.

  Finally, arbitration and mediation are two different things. What SAG and the AMPTP were involved in recently was mediation (the process of helping two different parties come to an agreement on a issue), which failed because SAG was giving concessions in order to reverse rollbacks while the AMPTP wasn’t budging on their “Final Offer” one bit. That lead the mediator to say that his work is done. That is where we stand right now in negotiations. On the other hand, arbitration is a tool the SAG will use if a strike authorization vote fails. At an arbitration meeting, SAG and the AMPTP will state their cases before a judge or group of judges who will then pretty much write the next SAG/AMPTP basic agreement which means that both sides must accept the arbitrator’s decision. If it gets to that point, SAG and AMPTP can call witnesses to help state their cases. Based on the history of negotiations, the AMPTP better hope that the Strike Authorization vote passes. If it doesn’t, the arbirtation hearings will be interesting because the board will have the power of a civil court judge to request the AMPTP companies to open their books for everyone to see. For Nikki, it would be like an neverending Christmas.

  Comment by Jessy S. — Monday December 1, 2008 @ 1:16pm PST  Reply to this post

• Now that Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency in California does he have the power to thwart a strike by SAG? Everyone knows that a work stoppage in California, at this time, would be the death nail in the coffin of an already almost dead state economy. Come on SAG get back to reality!!! Just accept the deal that your other union brothers and sisters accepted and move on until the next three years. You guys must know that you will not have the public support on your side as the WGA did!!! Get back to reality before the television industry does….. (pun intended!!!)

  Comment by G — Monday December 1, 2008 @ 1:28pm PST  Reply to this post

• Man, the AMPTP are really sounding like a spurned ex at the moment aren’t they?

  Comment by Anonymous — Monday December 1, 2008 @ 1:31pm PST  Reply to this post

• Who to hate more right now SAG or the Studios?
  They are both so easy to hate for being stupid and greedy.
  SAG is being stupid and greedy right now but the STUDIOS are always that way while trying screw everyone 24/7.
  Tough choices…..

  Comment by ReelBusy — Monday December 1, 2008 @ 1:38pm PST  Reply to this post

• Jessy S

  There is no arbitration procedure with regard to negotiating a new contract in the SAG collective bargaining agreement. The only way arbitration will occur is if both sides agree to arbitration and that IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. If the strike authorization fails, SAG can ask for arbitration but the other side is simply going to say no. There is no mandatory arbitration under either state or federal law.

  Comment by richard — Monday December 1, 2008 @ 2:26pm PST  Reply to this post

• Here’s an idea…

  Why won’t SAG just accept the offer in front of them — then join up with the other unions/guilds and form a common front during the next negotiation period?

  After all, any strike now will only offset whatever gains SAG expects to make by striking anyway. It’s called a catch-22. It sucks, but it’s true.

  Ultimately, I think the biggest lesson here is that unions fighting amongst themselves is never good when negotiating against a common enemy.

  That’s all.

  Comment by My 2 cents — Monday December 1, 2008 @ 3:59pm PST  Reply to this post

• Wow I love this it is more entertaing then the crap that Hollywood has been put out in years.

  Comment by NunyaBiz — Monday December 1, 2008 @ 4:00pm PST  Reply to this post

• Don’t insult Dick Cheney by comparing Carol Lombardini to him! A better comparison is to compare her to that bag of feces Nicholas Counter. Both the lowest kind of human vermin from my perspective.

  Comment by ewk — Wednesday December 3, 2008 @ 6:24am PST  Reply to this post