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7:45PM UPDATE: Here’s an internal SAG memo:
Message from Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG DNED & General Counsel
Earlier today, a notice was served on Screen Actors Guild advising us that attorneys representing certain National Board members would be seeking an expedited injunction from the Los Angeles Superior Court prohibiting the Guild from implementing the provisions of the written assent of January 26, 2009. The notice sets the hearing for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow, February 3, 2009.
I am sending you this notice to keep you apprised of this action, and I will continue to keep you informed of further developments.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland
Deputy National Executive Director
and General Counsel
6:35PM: Here is SAG’s statement regarding the postponement of the SAG/AMPTP meeting scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week:
Los Angeles, (February 2, 2009) – Screen Actors Guild today notified the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that the Guild had received a notice of intent to file a complaint tomorrow. In light of this circumstance, both parties have agreed to a postponement of their meeting and will reschedule at a later date. Screen Actors Guild has no further comment on the notice of intent received today or the postponement of tomorrow’s meeting.
6:15PM: Here is the AMPTP statement just issued:
“Screen Actors Guild has advised us that it has a court proceeding that will conflict with our meeting this week and for that reason both parties felt it made sense to reschedule the meeting to a later date.”
4:30PM: “Screen Actors Guild today received a document that our legal team is reviewing. We have no further comment at this time,” SAG just informed me. Now sources tell me this document is a legal move by SAG President Alan Rosenberg and Hollywood Division 1st National Vice-President Anne-Marie Johnson (a Membership First’er) to obtain a temporary restraining order that would seek an expedited injunction prohibiting SAG from implementing the provisions of the written assent of January 26th. An LA Superior Court hearing for 8:30 AM Tuesday. That would reinstate fired National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Doug Allen as well as the SAG Negotiating Committee. This comes just as the Hollywood Division board meets tonight about the restart tomorrow under the aegis of the SAG National majority consisting of most of the NY Division and Regional Branch Divisions and a minoriy of the Hollywood Division. Since he was ousted, Allen’s job has been split in two with David White the new NED and John McGuire as new chief negotiator.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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First he wanted he wanted a Strike Authorization Vote. But he dragged that on for months. Then he wanted members to vote on the contract as is. Then he complained because there was no vote.
Whatever the results of the now postponed negotiations the Task Force would ask for either a Strike Authorization Vote or a vote on the contract. But now Rosenberg apparently only wants a vote on his (and only his) terms or… he just wants to keep dragging this on and on and on….
Have you heard his new song on You Tube? No joke, he posted a protest song on You Tube this week. The Daily Show couldn’t have done a better job.
The only good thing that can be said about this
is that it finally and forever sinks Alan Rosenberg,
ruins Anne-Marie Johnson’s chance at being elected SAG President,
and puts the finishing touches on the demise of Membership First.
The members of SAG now can see clearly that these people
have NEVER – NEVER – had the good of the members at heart.
just goes to show you how much alan and amj ‘really care’ about thier fellow actors…or the union. scorched earth mentality.
this too shall pass…and rosenberg will be booed when he leaves town just like Bush was when he flew off in his helicopter
I’ve been calling them The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, but that’s a misnomer. In fact, their aim is quite true: they’ve shot themselves in the foot yet again.
There are some sharp writers in Hollywood. But the best of them couldn’t make THIS shit up.
Does it have a wow finish? I mean like wow.
You poor actors, get this shit overwith one way or another and have a fucking constitutional convention or something. You’ve got way too many board members, and no leadership to come with it.
Wow. I mean fucking wow.
Be patient.
Is Rosenberg the only member of SAG who has any balls? I hope he gets his injunction!
lol. The UFS people only like it when they pull a coup. Alan and Allen are fighting for a better contract and no rollbacks or giveaways. The NY and RB people just want to rush to the table and take whatever piece of shite offer the AMPTP hand them and drool as it will be signed no matter what.
Besides if Tom Ligon is against it, then it has to be right.
As someone who works in this industry but is not a member of SAG this saddens me. What possible purpose could this serve other than to bolster to bruised ego of a person who didn’t get his way?
Fuck SAG. Let’s just shoot on hi-def and be done with it.
Ace, be patient? Are you kidding me?
Enjoy your AFTRA auditions.
Okay, we’re offically screwed. Egos are taking over and it’s never going stop. Everything that either side will try to do for the next 5 years will be caught up in this bullshit and NOTHING will get done.
It’s a very sad day for SAG. This constant battle will be the death of SAG and of any gains. Kiss a merger, decent contract, strength in negotiations and any possiblity of a chance at New Media officially gone. MF will never let this go and will work to overturn every single attempt by anyone else to move the union forward. We will never stop fighting each other and we will live forever in limbo.
Sad.
Be patient.
Comment by Ace — February 2, 2009 @ 8:27 pm
Oh, now that’s freakin’ brilliant.
You mean for more than the last 7+ months? While the industry packs up and moves the rest of their crap off shore?
Very inspiring… although thankfully shorter than usual.
I don’t know if this is a brilliant riposte of the United For Suckers faction, or bad strategy… but I have to admit, it’s kind of awesome how much it pisses off some of the “to hell with actors’ (well-deserved) residuals, I demand you give in to the AMPTP NOW!” people here.
I say this not because I hate them (I don’t), but because I despise their eagerness to destroy OTHERS’ financial well-being to put money in their own pockets.
This is fascinating to watch. Not pretty, but a gold mine for us writers. If some of you would trust in your guild to fight for your rights,
I am OVER this fucking treehouse behavior! Get out of your friggin treehouse U SAG leader BRATS and get back to the fuckin negotiating table! Do U even know how to DO a deal anyjmore???? (OK that was my Bale response to SAG…)
NY put a stop to the strike authorization…because they are AFRAID OF THE MEMBERS MAJORITY..that knows we NEED A STRIKE AUTHORIZATION to have any strength in negotiations.
NY is acting like a bunch of weak, pathetic pussies!
GO ALAN & DOUG Please don’t give up the majority of SAG members that support you!!!!
The only reason Doug was ousted is because of ART LYNCH from Nevada making it 52%
Art doesnt have one credit yet single handedly is ruining our union.
Some actual SAG members are more focused on the Contract than this juvenile personal assault on the people who are actually fighting for your future.
A taste of what happened today from Variety:
“SAG’s Membership First faction, which lost control of the national board in September, staged a protest in front of SAG headquarters Monday afternoon with about 60 supporters prior to an evening meeting of SAG’s Hollywood board. Picket signs criticized the ouster of Allen and the new-media terms of the AMPTP’s final offer, along with slamming high-profile stars for coming out against a strike authorization vote.
“Let the members vote, you arrogant New York cowards,” read one picket sign carrried by former national board member Mark Carlton.
Longtime SAG member Terry Becker (“Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”) called the firing of Allen “shameful” and predicted that members would vote down the deal over concerns about its new-media provisions.
Alan R. and D. Allen will be forever immortalized as the Two Crybabies Who Forever Broke SAG. Forget about residuals, forget about New Media, and forever forget about striking. These clowns are organized labor’s worst enemies and the AMPTM’s best buddies.
Be patient.
Comment by Ace — February 2, 2009 @ 8:27 pm
Oh, now that’s freakin’ brilliant.
Comment by W. Bush
Thank you.
P.S. “The industry” isn’t moving itself offshore – it’s moving itself to other states which offer kickbacks to producers. Record gains for the moguls, people. Record gains…
Anything that keeps the UFS idiots from giving away the sink is fine by me. He’s doing what he thinks is right, which is his right as president, which he was elected as.
Did you honestly think it would just end? Did you UFS idiots not realize you tore the union in half with your actions?
The infighting is now going to go on for a long, long time.
“Fuck SAG. Let’s just shoot on hi-def and be done with it.”
Already happening, CT. SAG is its own worst enemy. They should have read the handwriting on the wall a loooooooooooooooooooooong time ago. But they’ve done themselves in. Now, the proverbial walls have been completely covered over in said proverbial handwriting. Soon, it will all be AFTRA.
Jaw-dropping behavior, isn’t it? Just the most stunning, disorganized chaos. You couldn’t write this crap. Well, you could, but the studio execs and agents would tell you it’s too far-fetched.
It’s unfortunate. SAG was a great union. Before it imploded.
I think MF did an excellent job for me and still is. The AMPTP is offering us a crap deal. We the majority of members know it. We will NEVER ratify this crap deal. All the SAG members I talk to know that this is a crap AMPTP offer. They support the MF team. We all hope we can get Doug Allen back and the negotiating team. The AMPTP is offering bus crap. Thank god for Doug Allen and Allan Rosenberg. The majority of rank and file members support you! We will reject the offer AGAIN. GO GE DOUG BACK ! ! !
Alan is protecting the members — Most of whom hate the proposed deal.
Sorry folks, but 4000 people supported the original negotiating team, with 1500 un verified signatures supporting Danny DeVito’s “lets make a deal now” petition.
4000 verified signatures versus 1500 unverified ones.
Looks to me like those who care enough to get involved (like the 5000 or so SAG Members who make over $20K a year?) have ‘voted’ 2 to 1 to support the original negotiating team.
If UFS did not break the rules, and did not violate California Corporation law, or violate the SAG Constitution — negotiations with the UFS ‘task force’ will resume in a day or so.
If UFS did break the rules, it would seem the negotiations will resume with the old committee.
All the whiners and doomsdayers should let the process unfold.
If it was YOUR Union, and if one faction violated the law or unfairly trampled the rights of members wouldn’t you want a Court to protect ‘innocent’ members?
After how many months of working without a new deal, what’s a few more days?
While I know that UFS/NY/RBD does not represent the majority of the membership in what they did, at a certain point it all becomes a pissing match that only has meaning to the Board members frittering the member’s money away fighting while AFTRA gets stronger by the minute.
They have only one option left to pull this out of the fire… MF has to get legal authority to seize the assets of SAG, kick back 30% to run a new “SAG East” out of NY, keep 70% in Hollywood (representing the percentage of work out here)… take the new “SAG West” out of the AFL-CIO and join with Teamsters… go to the NLRB – get the membership to vote “SAG West” as their bargaining unit for all scripted work… and kick AFTRA to the curb. THEN they’ll have leverage to negotiate real contracts.
Anything short of that scenario, and a year from now, if they haven’t merged with AFTRA (meaning, been taken over by them), SAG will be a shell of a union with collective agreements for about 20% of commercials (if any, since AFTRA will probably use last night’s rally to get out of jointly negotiating the commercial agreement and will sign a low-ball agreement a few weeks from now), collective agreements on the few feature films that aren’t being shot on Hi-Def, but mostly, will be an office collecting and distributing old residuals. There sure won’t be many new residuals when we’re all working under AFTRA contracts.
SAG will be completely dead by 2011. They’ll just keep a little office open to distribute old $4 residuals checks and administer the P&H fund that will last for another 15 years (or maybe 10 because of the depression we’re going into) before it runs out. Yup, younger members, don’t expect any retirement money after about 2025 if you’re vested – if SAG dies now, so does your pension and health care when you’re old. Oh, and you’ll never qualify for AFTRA’s plan unless you’re a series regular for years (ie celebrity) – you have to be doing VERY well before you get a pension credit over there.
It’s now or never for SAG, but given MF’s past behavior, I doubt they’d have the balls for all they’re going to have to do to keep this from going completely south. It’s too far gone. Thanks for good intentions, MF, but your “Membership First” mantra meant nothing because you were too afraid to change with the times and take on stupid little AFTRA when they saw how weak you were and decided to eat you alive.
Pilots are being approved now. Now. Like, this week. When pilots are approved, they set up their contracts. Contracts that run for the life of the series. We may have just lost an entire season of television because of MF. Everything. And if pilots shot in HD under AFTRA code are successful, what possible reason would there be to come back to SAG? All of this because of the egos involved in an internal union squabble.
MF has failed to negotiate seven contracts. Their administration has had no success whatever on any front. Those of you singing Alan’s praises for “fighting to stop rollbacks” and holding the line, seriously: that’s some great working class hero bullshit, but do you care about results at all?
Nobody (nobody rational, anyway) is saying to sign the LBO. But we were right on the precipice of going in to maybe obtain a better deal. To TRY at least, which is more than has been done in months. Does this really not shake any of you pro-MF people’s faith in your leadership? They are the ones splitting the union, not NY or UFS or any of the other straw men.
Alan Rosenberg, Anne Marie Johnson and their supporters are destroying SAG from within.