Ed Asner Talks About SAG “Betrayal”

COMMENTS (11)

• Ed Asner is a snore and a crotchety old man. Still a great actor, but his personal vitriol towards members of his union is sad and pathetic.

  Comment by macb1 — Friday May 29, 2009 @ 10:25pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Asner speaks the truth, as usual, and, remember, he’s got the credentials to back up what he says. The sad thing is that, whichever faction prevails, SAG has been hobbled, if not destroyed.

  Comment by Santayana — Friday May 29, 2009 @ 11:57pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Great for Ed. He speaks the truth. Anyone paying attention knows that what he said is true. End of story.

  Thanks Ed.

  And, you my dear macb1, you are a knucklehead!

  Comment by Space Monkey — Saturday May 30, 2009 @ 12:48am PDT  Reply to this post

• ed is a stand-up guy. there is no bullshit in his dna.

  Comment by Anonymous — Saturday May 30, 2009 @ 12:52am PDT  Reply to this post

• He’s so right-on! We must tough it out now!!! VOTE NO!

  Comment by Anonymous — Saturday May 30, 2009 @ 7:50am PDT  Reply to this post

• To macb1:

  To me, anybody who makes more money as a member of the opposition/opposite side of the bargaining table than they do acting, and tries to rally votes accordingly to pass something that tramples SAG in favor of their higher paying job is a “member of my union” in name only, and I invite them to cordially go fuck themselves.

  In Soldarity with people who’s majority income is ACTING, not engaging in the profession who is our opposition in this negotiation

  Comment by Sterling Wolfe — Saturday May 30, 2009 @ 12:40pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Look, it’s possible to agree 100% emotionally with the Vote “NO” position and still not agree that voting no at this time is the right thing to do. It’s not about emotions and it’s not only about what we want in our contract. It’s about what we can get now under these circumstances. I think we will have to pass a strike authorization to get a better deal and I think we will probably have to actually strike to get what we need and deserve. But strategically when is the best time to do that? Now – with SAG standing alone? With the AMPTP knowing how little actors have been making for months while things dragged on? It’s obvious to me that the time for taking a tough bargaining position is when SAG and AFTRA are officially unified and when our pockets are full. That would be next time. You win when you have a sound strategy and a strong position – not just because you have a just cause and an emotional commitment.

  Comment by Cool Head Luke — Saturday May 30, 2009 @ 9:29pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Ed Asner is right.

  Ed Asner is always right.

  Ed Asner was right about El Salvador 20 years ago when I was a dumbass ‘reared by Republican’s’ moron who believed Reagan’s lying bullshit that Commies were ready to storm Newport Beach.

  Ed was right, and I was wrong.

  Ed’s got balls.

  Ed, like Martin Sheen, has what seems to be a spiritual purity. No doubt Ed and Martin follow different spiritual paths — but I’m just damn impressed that both men always side with the little guy and always tell the truth.

  SAG needs to build a new, larger auditorium — and call it ‘The Ed Asner Room’.

  On top of it all, Ed has the biggest grossing film — may it go on to make a few hundred million.

  I hope you have points, Ed.

  No Actor deserves success and respect more than Ed Asner.

  When I grow up I wanna be like Ed Asner, the “man who is always right”.

  Comment by UnionFan — Sunday May 31, 2009 @ 10:14am PDT  Reply to this post

• To “Cool head Luke”

  “It’s about what we can get now under these circumstances.” Couldn’t agree less. It’s about the rest of our lives in this business, and ringing bells like non-union work under union jurisdiction that history clearly demonstrates cannot be unrung.

  Comment by Sterling Wolfe — Sunday May 31, 2009 @ 11:09am PDT  Reply to this post

• cool head luke

  if we wait to strike for that time when our pockets are full,
  the producer’s pockets will also be full and they’ll be able
  to wait out a strike much longer than they would be now.

  the other ironic bit is, if we ratify this deal it will very hard
  for most actors to ever fill their pockets again.

  and lastly, SAG is always alone.
  in the past 27+ years of joint negotiation with AFTRA
  there were many times when the MAJORITY of the
  SAG contingent wanted to press the AMPTP hard,
  but the AFTRA contingent caved and with the one or two dissenters
  form the SAG side, the weak deal was always taken.

  so many people on the yes side talk about strategy or a back-up plan.
  well, we’re in a bad spot.
  and what we have to do to get what we need and deserve is HARD.
  and it’s scary.
  but what many of the yes people who talk about back-up plans
  are really asking is ,”What’s the guarantee?”
  there are no guarantees in this business
  and certainly none in life.

  the only thing to be certain of is if we blithely give away
  everything the AMPTP asks for in this contract,
  we will most likely NEVER get it back.

  Comment by harry98 — Sunday May 31, 2009 @ 12:32pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Let’s face it folks, the AMPTP will always get what they want, because they have the money. I don’t like this, but guess what…

  I agreed with the WGA Strike. It’s hard to stand up for your rights though when your very living is at stake. A SAG Strike now though will cripple our efforts. The economy is in the fucking toilet and way too many prodco’s are going to AFTRA.

  A Strike now will cripple SAG permanently. Sorry to say…

  And AFTRAS contract didn’t exactly cave in. They got most of what they wanted.

  Call me biased (and probably a whole lot of other things), but we’re in the age of the Indies now, and that is where you’re going to be treated better; certainly not the Studio System (which, BTW, is dying anyway).

  Comment by hyphenated — Wednesday June 3, 2009 @ 4:42pm PDT  Reply to this post