Stars Urge “No” Vote To Authorize Strike

COMMENTS (92)

• Check and mate.

  Buh bye, Alan. Thanks for playing.

  Comment by Reality Check — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 2:42pm PST  Reply to this post

• About time!

  Finally some common sense from these high profile members of SAG. Fantastic news!

  Comment by Broke PA — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 2:44pm PST  Reply to this post

• AMEN.

  Thank you all for speaking up.

  Comment by Anonymous — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 2:45pm PST  Reply to this post

• Now THAT is an impressive list!

  Comment by Bill — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 2:47pm PST  Reply to this post

• About fuckin’ time somebody started puttin’ this list together.
  I agree one hundred percent.

  Comment by #44 — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 2:49pm PST  Reply to this post

• Mesthinks they got the more impressive list

  Comment by Casual Observer — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 2:55pm PST  Reply to this post

• “Three years from now all the union contracts will be up again..”
  Talk about a LAME argument.

  Comment by jj — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 2:57pm PST  Reply to this post

• Bless you all. Good to see SOME people in this business give a damn about someone other than themselves.

  Comment by Bravo! — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 2:59pm PST  Reply to this post

• You wanted A listers. here they are

  Comment by just a thought — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:00pm PST  Reply to this post

• Bless You for this.

  Times are too tough right now for more people to lose their jobs.

  Comment by Very Curious — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:03pm PST  Reply to this post

• R.I.P. Actor’s strike of 2009.

  And thank goodness for that.

  Comment by Common Sense — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:06pm PST  Reply to this post

• I think in the end actors have to vote in their own self interest – these guys all did. Because they work above scale, and have projects lined up for the next few months, atleast.

  Their sacrafice will be a different one – although they aren’t affected by the terms and conditions of the new contract as much as back ground and other actors, the strike will cost them wages in terms of not being able to work duringthe strike.

  Tricky stuff…

  Comment by Anonymous — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:08pm PST  Reply to this post

• Finally…..thank you.

  As a fellow SAG member, I thank you and support you.

  Comment by John — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:10pm PST  Reply to this post

• Kind of puts the SAG yes vote list to shame as far as star power.

  Comment by An expensive list — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:18pm PST  Reply to this post

• Most of these ‘stars’ already have vested pensions and millions in the bank. What do they care if the day players can’t make a living from acting anymore if we sign the crappy AMPTP deal on the table. I can guarantee that if we sign our residuals away, like we did with DVD, no one is going to give us a better deal three years from now. These same people will be signing another letter then urging SAG not to grow a spine. AMPTP doesn’t bargain in good faith unless they’re forced to. Vote YES on Strike Authorization.

  Comment by They're too rich to care — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:24pm PST  Reply to this post

• Another AMEN..finally some actors with some sense. I think you guys deserve better too…but you will have more power if you stand together with the other unions!!!! Do it then, when the other contracts come up…….and really stick it to these assholes (the AMPTP).

  Comment by g — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:26pm PST  Reply to this post

• It seems as if my union cannot stop shooting itself in the foot. As much as we believe the AMPTP is not offering a fair deal, one similar to the one the WGA is having to try to enforce based on lack of payments, there appears to be too many factions talking “out of school” to negotiate effectively at this point.

  Yes, the economy is bad. Yes, it would be terrible for people to lose jobs and income at this point in America’s economic history; as it would be terrible even if times were better economically. But that is what negotiations are made of. Hard decisions. Resolute purpose. Sacrificing now for something better down the road. It is fairly apparent to me that the future of distribution will be in new media. Is is really intelligent for the unions to forget this reality? As we negotiate it must be with a vision of what the future could be. The future is new technology.

  Unions, negotiations and strikes are not for the feint of heart. Never have been and never will be. This is what blue collar union workers have known for decades. It’s not a make believe, happy ending, Hollywood sacrifice. There is loss. There is hardship. There is purpose in spite of these things. However, between AFTRA, SAG NY, and now our star “brothers and sisters” and there decree, how can anything be resolved effectively? Maybe it is time to settle before we continue with the self-inflicted wounds.

  Although the way these negotiations have gone I don’t know if three years is long enough find a common ground in the ranks of SAG or partnership with AFTRA.

  Comment by Head Shaker — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:31pm PST  Reply to this post

• Now let’s see if Alan is foolish enough to call those on this list “subversive” as he did the the NY board. He cancelled Friday’s meeting with the NY board so he would not have to hear their opinions – guess you can’t hide from this list, can you Al?

  Comment by Transpo — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:31pm PST  Reply to this post

• Sure the big name actors want to take the deal. It won’t affect them. They will still get big bucks per job and control of their likenesses and residuals. The deal is for all the people who are NOT household names and have no leverage. It’s for the folks who have recurring roles on shows, not the stars. It’s for the character actors.

  The A listers will always be fine no matter the deal with the studios. But, residuals help the rest of the working actors put their kids through college and food ont he table.

  Comment by rosettaresearch — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:37pm PST  Reply to this post

• I’d love to work with these multi-millionaires for a fraction of what they make, i.e. for scale, but their interests are not my interests. I don’t have a big mortgage in Malibu or on Mulholland.

  If I had their career, I would vote the same way. But that is not my situation along with the overwhelming majority of the membership.

  Commercial companies figured out a few years ago that they could buy SAG actors out for a period of time for unlimited use on the Internet to sell their products. But not the studios, no way – they won’t even talk.

  I’m happy that the above people are doing so well but the truth is why in the hell would I ever let some millionaire actor, or producer or director or writer or crew member for that matter, force me to vote against my interests and those of my family? No way.

  Sounds a lot like the Republican Senators coercing the UAW to rollback their salaries to non-union levels in exchange for supporting the bailout of GM, Ford and Chrysler. Those union-busting Senators can go to hell.

  Comment by SimplyBilly — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:43pm PST  Reply to this post

• The more “big” names on the list, the more irrelevant it becomes. These folks can negotiate any deal they want. Alan R. is fighting for the minimum actors can be compensated for. Of course, the names on the list don’t want a strike. Why would they?

  “I got mine” should be their motto.

  Comment by andy — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:44pm PST  Reply to this post

• Most of the names on the list are capable of negotiating their own above-scale contracts. They are obviously not thinking of the rank-and-file middle-class actor.
  A non-star actor

  Comment by Mimi — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:44pm PST  Reply to this post

• This list represents about 140 votes out of 120,000. They’re mostly millionaires who don’t have to worry about what’s in the contract… they write their own deals. A working middle class actor making under $100K a year will be ruined by the AMPTP contract on the table. If the vote goes ahead, don’t be surprised if the rank and file vote to protect their future in this business… not the future of the people on this list who already have enough money to live for the rest of their lives.

  Comment by Only 140 votes — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:47pm PST  Reply to this post

• So the rich way-above-scale actors are comfortable with the 6-figure and some 7 and 8 figure deals their agents negotiate for them–some negotiating a producer credit as well. Consider it noted.

  Why don’t these celebrities put their money where their hypocritical mouths are and write a letter to their golf buddies at the AMPTP encouraging them to give SAG’s rank and file a square deal?

  It’s shameful.

  Comment by Zackery — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:49pm PST  Reply to this post

• i work w/ 3 of those actors! they are absolutley right!!

  Comment by anon — Monday December 15, 2008 @ 3:52pm PST  Reply to this post