2012-2013 Season Network Rankings: Final Numbers; ABC, CBS … 
Full 2012-2013 TV Season Series Rankings 
TOLDJA! Paramount Pocketing $190M From Disney For Marvel … 
‘Good Morning America’ Hits 19-Year Viewership … 
MGM Buys ‘Modern Family’ Producer Ben … 
‘Fashion Police’ Writers Chant On Picket Lines: … 
Universal Makes Seven-Figure Deal For ‘The School For … 
Steven Soderbergh Will Interrupt Retirement To Direct And … 
Cannes: EOne Announces Itself As Player In U.S. … 
Will LIN TV Stations Go Dark On Time Warner Cable? 
Very Crowded Memorial Weekend Kick-Off: ‘Hangover … 
Shareholders Quiz Time Warner Chief On Political Ties And … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Modern Family’, ‘Law … 
Hammond On Cannes: Paramount’s ‘Nebraska’ … 
Cannes: J.C. Chandor Sets Next Project ‘A Most … 
Hannibal Classics Sets Cast For Nic Cage Pic … 
Hammond On Cannes: Robert Redford’s Brave New Role … 
Hot Trailer: Jennifer Aniston And Jason Sudeikis’ … 
Brad Pitt’s Plan B Banner Promotes Jeremy Kleiner To … 
Hot Trailer: ‘Don Jon’ 
Billy Crystal-Starring Comedy From Matt Nix & Larry … 
SAG National Board Okays AFTRA Merger
The Screen Actors Guild tells me this morning that its National Board Of Directors will include a so-called ‘Opposition Statement’ when the proposed SAG-AFTRA merger’s referendum package is sent to members. The rules didn’t force the guild leaders to do so because the board’s ‘no’ votes were less than 25%. But it was the right thing to do and SAG is smart to play it safe and let merger opponents state their case to the membership at large. Because more information, not less, is definitely the way to go on an issue this momentous to actors, background actors, and stunt performers. Hopefully, for the same reason, AFTRA’s Board will allow an Opposition Statement after it votes on the merger today.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
Loading ...
LOL how magnanimous. SAG rolled over on cable, then VHS/DVDs, then new media. SAG finally got more DVD money when the revenue stream dried up after decades of producer gravy. SAG is always years behind. The time when a merger would have increased their negotiating power has long passed. And of course now they tell the members not to worry about pensions until AFTER the merger. What a joke.
To remain separate Unions for one cause is to give up all power and strength in negotiating with (against) the Studios. Either stand together or fall divided. Get on with the merger already.
We’ll be weaker because of all the people who aren’t actors who can vote on our contracts.
Aftra is a useless union. Completely, 100%, useless.
AFTRA has 80000 members, 44000 of whom are also SAG members because they are ACTORS. That means that actors will still hold sway in all combined discussions and especially given that the SAG membership, which is much larger anyway, is composed of actors. Try basing your opinions on facts, it’s a popular method.
Greater numbers only give greater strength when all those that make up the greater numbers are willing to strike. What is the power of 10,000,000 vs. 10,000 if the majority of the 10,000,000 are unwilling to walk away from work to prove a point, and gain concessions? Do you really think employers will give ground simply because more people are asking politely for it? I’m not a strike advocate, and I’m not pro or anti-merger. I’m for good sense, and against foolishness. I do not understand how large numbers make anyone stronger unless the large number of people are willing to take similar strong actions, and the only actions I’ve ever known to accomplish anything in labor relations are the united willingness to stop work if demands aren’t met. That doesn’t mean every strike works. It does mean, though, that nothing has ever been accomplished without the willingness to engage in one.
two highly dysfunctional families want to marry, thinking that it will somehow fix things… that doesn’t sound like a recipe for disaster at all
What’s to prevent a mass enrollment in AFTRA right now to bypass all the traditional barriers to entry? The mergers will double the competition for work. A mass enrollment will triple it. We will have a strong union with 1/3 the work?
Yeah, it’s long overdue. We’re in an era now where the ‘screens’ in “Screen Actors Guild” and the ‘radio’ in “American Federation of Television and Radio Artists” are becoming irrelevant. Best to close ranks and wage war against the studios, not each other. It won’t be the prettiest merger, but it has to be done.
Here’s my Minority Report :
1. I cannot and will not Ever VOTE yes on a merger that doesn’t explain pension and health benefits in a merged union.
2. I have never been supported by AFTRA, I have had to battle them over issues like getting paid for double time on a pilot that worked 14 hour days. I was only paid for time and a half. I was told by payroll that AFTRA had made a deal. THEY GAVE UP DOUBLE TIME. Just gave it away. A right that people went to the mat for, and struck for, just given away to obtain jurisdiction over a pilot. This was an Exhibit A show also. This is what AFTRA calls it’s network shows. I eventually got the money after filing a claim, but was treated like crap from AFTRA whom I pay to protect me. SAG on the other hand has ALWAYS looked out for its members. I can ALWAYS count on them to to be fair.
3. SAG is a class act, always has been and has always looked out for its members. My life has been better because of it. It exists for it members, to create and establish a fair and living wage. We have been abandoned by our above the line actors who are “above ” the union. If you are an actor with a quote, you are somewhat “above” the union. Your quote is above the scale which was set by the union. The union exists for the 99 % of us. There are more of us than there are of them !! We have been caught up in just trying to make our benefits. Busting our asses to work while benefits go in one union pot or the other. For many there aren’t enough in either pot, so despite the fact that you may be working a lot, you cant qualify for benefits in either union. This is what they are counting on. The exhaustion vote. Please consider the bigger picture here and what you are giving way to the producers, who make millions in profits, you are giving up your right to a fair and living wage, you are giving up a residual structure that will help support you when you aren’t working, you are giving up the best health care in the industry, and you are giving up a pension that accrues at a much better rate than the AFTRA one.
4. AFTRA is a “union” who feels that a $48.00 a day ( yes that’s forty-eight dollars a day ) was a fair rate to give producers to have stand ins ( called rehearsal actors ) rehearse WHILE BEING FILMED , on various award and variety shows. They presented it as $24.00 an hour so it skated by state law, but gave the producers, a 2 hour minimum day. Therefore many people received a $48.00 gross check for their work. That’s about a $36.00 net. SAG made sure there is an 8 hour minimum day . AFTRA members had to fight for a new contract that now has a 5 hour minimum and received it Im sure in part for AFTRA to appear to be merger worthy. But to me, ANY union that thinks giving producers a $48.00 a day deal for talent is not “looking out for its members”. Would you work for $48.00 a day ?
5. CNN is non -union. I repeat, CNN is non union. This IS AFTRA’S jurisdiction . And they have never unionized it. CNN is in a right to work state but has never been willing to unionize despite its billions in profit. AFTRA ALLOWS IT’S MEMBERS TO WORK NON-UNION. How is that even possible ? And what would become of actors then, under a merged union ? Will the AFTRA side take over ? Let producers hire non union talent will we all still pay our dues ?
6. HEALTH CARE: AFTRA health care costs more, and isn’t nearly as good. Every claim I had was sent back to me for “proof”. Every claim was a battle. Unlike SAG who paid their share of any claim sent it.
7. AFTRA is famous for making separate deals with every show. SAG has a template for a type of show. Most AFTRA shows , especially those for Disney and Nickelodeon DONT PAY RESIDUALS. I have a friend whose Zach and Cody has aired over 99 times and he hasn’t received a single penny in residuals. It is an AFTRA show.
8. SAG is Neiman -Marcus. AFTRA is Wal-mart. What happens when the 2 merge ? Guess ? Prices drop. Does SAG need AFTRA to survive ? I think not, and here’s why. There were more SAG pilots last year than the year before proving that with the right motivated leadership bent on continuing the quality of SAG, we can continue . Who says digital is represented by AFTRA besides AFTRA ? They just jumped on it. Why cant SAG jump on it too ?
9. Roberta Reardon who has no credits on imdb, but still is the president of AFTRA, receives PAY for her job. No SAG president or board member does. I guess it pays well to destroy SAG.
10. To get a pension and health plan originally, SAG members had to GIVE UP RESIDUALS PRIOR TO 1960….what will we have to give up now ? Because we WILL HAVE TO give something up. All residuals ? Tell me that’s not where this is heading.
11. What guarantee is there that the AMPTP will even recognize a merged union?
12. And lastly, I would like to thank Alan Rosenberg who took a beating for looking out for SAG members interests. He has been vilified by many, but in truth, he is a fair and decent man. I have been to many meetings that he was at, and he listened to every member there. I personally got to speak to the president of my union and he listened to me. THANK YOU Alan Rosenberg, for fighting the good fight and for the considerable sacrifices you have made for the life of this union. I have been a proud SAG member for 30+ years.
Peggy Lane O’Rourke
AFTRA didn’t go after a company that owed me over $10,000 in paychecks. That company was a mom and pop operation called “Sony.”
They let the clock ran out while I screamed.
AFTRA is useless.
Well said.
The DGA covers both film and TV, the WGA covers both film and TV, only makes sense that actors would also unite.
Peggy:
Do your homework. There has not been a case in history of merged pension plans (which would take place AFTER the union merger if the pension trustees vote it up) where the merger plans have not done better for members – lower premiums, more benefits. It’s just common sense: there’s safety in numbers.
I agree with everything except #7. I worked on Disney’s Zeke and Luther an AFTRA show, I receive quarterly residual checks. Granted not the size of my SAG residual checks, but I do get them. I would have your friend check into it and see why he is not getting them.
This merger is a big distraction from the real issues: 1) the complete lack of effective collective bargaining skills, 2) investigating whether union representatives are taking bribes or other quid pro quo to sell out their members to producers, studios and networks; and 3) ensuring that stars and names with their own production conflicts of interest will fully support and honor picket lines in talent strikes.
It’s about time!! If you want to preserve a union of any kind for actors/performers/broadcasters/stunt-persons/background/singers/dancers and etc..you will VOTE YES on this merger! Given the present day hostile climate in this country towards unions, merger is the only way to preserve our work & get paid! And you need to get your facts straight – at SAG now we let all members vote on all contracts so that means you have everyone not just actors voting on primarily actor type contracts and vice a versa actors voting on contracts for background workers, stunt persons, singers, dancers, comedians & puppeteers – all of us voting on all the contracts…you do not know what the new union will be..and let us not forget that we absorbed the background workers union years ago, which was a good thing and saved their union…Screens are now everywhere and new media is the future – What is to stop producers from going to AFTRA because they’ve made a film on digital – NOTHING! ANY ONE ON ANY SCREEN IS IN THE SAME BOAT AND WE NEED TO KEEP THAT BOAT AFLOAT! SAVE UNIONS & SAVE OUR PAY! Together we have greater negotiating power which is what we need & want! Do not get lost in the trees..it’s the forest we are after..if we do not merge your health payments at SAG which have increased steadily will keep climbing and your credit accrual rate will go through the roof, so qualifying for your pension at SAG will get harder and harder and you can thank Alan Rosenberg & their zealous regime for that..
VOTE MERGER AND SAVE BOTH SAG & AFTRA!
You say nothing about how, or why, a merged union will make anyone stronger. Large numbers mean nothing unless the majority of them are willing to strike. Otherwise, it’s just larger numbers of people taking bad deals together.
Why do actors feel so entitled to residuals?
They are well paid for their days work however, unlike the rest of the working world, they feel they are inherently entitled to be paid over and over again. Do office workers or autoworkers or waiters or teachers get residuals?
No, office workers, autoworkers, waiters, teachers, etc… do not get residuals, but they work a regular schedule. They know their hours, they know how many days they’ll have off. Actors are not employed on a regular calendar like mechanics or secretaries.
If you knew anything about acting, you would know that residuals are part of the deal that an actor signs up for when they enter this business. It’s a way to ensure that an actor is fairly compensated for their work.
It’s not entitlement, it’s business. Without residuals, many actors may be faced with getting an office job or a carpet cleaner job while waiting for the next acting gig to come in.
Last I checked, being an actor isn’t like collecting a paycheck behind a desk. You can’t surf the web all day and collect a paycheck. As an actor you have to work. The camera doesn’t lie.
Sad about SAG-AFTRA. I guess we’ll have to see how it goes.
It’s a good and reasonable question. There are greater minds than mine who’ve thought it out more, but one reason is this: Office and auto workers, waiters and teachers do not suffer career harm from overexposure. However, it is not uncommon for actors to become so associated with a certain role (or even a certain company for whom they’ve performed in advertisements) that no one wants to hire them for anything else. Therefor, they should be compensated for repeated uses, since those repeated uses contribute toward that overexposure. See Jean Stapleton, as Edith Bunker in All in the Family, or much of the cast of the original Star Trek, for good examples.
It’s something the studios came up with so they don’t have to pay more up front.
I suggest you try reading before opening your ignorance hole.
Thanks for the input, though.
actors get paid “over and over again”, as you say, because when their performance is rerun over and over again, it generates revenue each time. as that revenue is generated, the actor receives a small percentage (trust me on this) of that revenue, and as the revenue decreases, so do their residuals. the other careers you mentioned don’t work that way, except for companies that allow profit sharing for their employees (workers being paid over and over again for a company’s good performance), or a waitress getting a larger tip than normal because a customer decides they liked her service – they also get stiffed sometimes but they always get some sort of hourly wage as a guarantee of pay, however small. an autoworker does not get a residual for a car they built when its resold as a used car because once it is purchased, it is no longer the property of the company that made it, unlike the production company that made the movie, tv show or commercial that pays residuals.
hey Reality Check – do you know the actors that NEED residuals the most are not the ones making $25,000-$500,000 an episode – it’s the ones that make $1000 or scale for the day and maybe get to work 5, 10, 15 days a year. If they went to work everyday like your “workers” and got paid that amount then maybe residuals would not be that important. But they don’t. AND, the producers are using their artistry over and over again making money so why shouldn’t they. If they or YOU don’t want to pay residuals then cut out the performers from the final edit out after its first run and see how well the project plays then. There, NOW you’ve had a RealityCheck.
To answer this OFTEN asked question…
1. Actors are indeed paid well for a day’s work.
2. Often, however, the rates you read about are SAG wages. AFTRA rates are lower (for some shows) and include NO residual payments for a long amount of time.
3. The companies paying for the services make a lot of money for reselling the shows into syndication.
4. Oftentimes if you appear (as an actor) in one show you can’t work on another show under the same network.
AFTRA has a really bad history of allowing certain networks/shows to cut sweet deals where the benefit is toward the net rather than the actor. And they also rep many people who work in varying fields outside of “acting” (Newscasters/Dancers/etc) who also get to vote on contract approval.
(Like having a CONSTRUCTING UNION allow members of the Electricians branch to vote on issues affecting the PLUMBERS branch.)
THAT’S the concern people have.
It’s got to happen (the merge) because AFTRA has allowed big businesses to use them as a “lesser than” option.
The only question will be as to whom has the “stronger approach” during negotiations.
Most duel card holders (SAG/AFTRA) detest AFTRA (comparatively.)
They really are a shady, self-serving organization.
Don’t feed the trolls!
If you have any decency, any humanity, any respect, any honor, and any intelligence….then you will see that there is no good that can come from a merger…only bad.
It is immoral, criminal, and disgusting to me that those members of SAG and AFTRA who are behind the merger are asking us all to vote on a merger that does not tell us what will happen to our PENSIONS. For one.
This is an unfair merger. They have not addressed a goshdarn thing. All these wankers say is…”WE’ll be stronger.” I am sick of that stupid mantra…it is hollow and meaningless.
TELL US WHAT YOU PLAN TO DO WITH MY PENSION I HAVE WORKED 27 YEARS TO EARN!!!
IF WE MERGE…ARE YOU GOING TO HALF IT? GET RID OF ALL OF IT? ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE FROM ME WHAT I HAVE WORKED MY WHOLE ADULT LIFE TO EARN AND WILL LIVE ON…JUST TO MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELVES AS THE PEOPLE WHO MADE A MERGER HAPPEN?
Shame on you…and shame on anyone who votes for a merger when peoples lives are at stake. THAT is not a dramatic statement…it is the truth.
Robert–
How many times to you have to be told that your pension — which you’ve worked for for 27 years, or so you say — is safe. You get it all. If you don’t get that, you 1) can’t read 2) can’t comprehend what you read and 3) need to take a couple of hours(after you’ve learned how to read) and read up on multi-employer plans, how they operate, the fact that both SAG and AFTRA plans are currently certified green(completely safe). And that the money you’ve vested is yours.
It is immoral, indecent and disgusting to oppose merger on assumption and ignorance of facts. Know your facts.
I am voting NO…because we do not know all the facts. We are uninformed on TWO of the most important issues facing literally thousands of actors, and that is what is going to happen to our Pension and Health plans.
It’s a no brainer. You have to vote NO…because they have not told us what will happen to these plans if we merger.
All due respect to anyone who wants to vote yes…but why would you vote for something you have no idea how it will come out?
If you believe in solidarity, then you can start right now by voting NO…because you’ll be protecting the pensions -present and future – of those thousands of actors who have worked hard to become ‘vested” and have earned the pension entitled to them.
I am one of those actors you could help. I’ve been a pro for 38 years and am vested 24 of those years. I’m not working much anymore, and in truth I’m barely getting by, but I’m 11 years away from collecting my SAG pension, and if I can make it that far, I’ll be okay until I pass.
But if you vote for a merger….without ay of us knowing what is to be done with our pensions…then god help us all if they take them from me and the others living off them currently and those like me whose future subsistence depends on it.
Please vote NO. We simply don’t have enough information…and that isn’t right.
I completely agree. This makes no sense to me at all. And if I’m already in both unions, I can’t imagine any reason at all that this would ever be beneficial to me. Maybe I’m misinformed.
Why don’t you wait until you have all the facts. Because you don’t have them yet.
It can not be repeated to often:
Barring a nuclear war and complete decimation of the planet, your vested pension is what you get.
You need to vote YES.
Transpo,
SAG and AFTRA currently (and for decades) have negotiated their contracts jointly. With the exception a few contracts ago…. So, merging will not increase our negotiating power one bit. On the other hand; merging both unions will add a tremdous number of actors competing for the same number of roles. It will also make qualifying for ones health and pension harder. More people for the P&H to service will force the P&H to raise the earnings required to qualify. There will be no savings through merging staff from both unions, because there is no plan to reduce either unions staff after merger. If a merger takes place, our super-sized union will have to negotiate every contract over. Producers and Advertisers will not agree to the terms we negotiated as SAG and AFTRA. We will be starting from square one. Rates, and working conditions will have to be entirely re-negotiated. Residuals will likely go, bye-bye, along with much more. If merging is so good for actors, why are the producers and advertisers for it?
Vote No! Save SAG & AFTRA!
Reality Check
Say some auto workers produce one beautiful vehicle.
And then let’s say that the automobile manufacturers had a machine that could
magically replicate that beautiful car over and over.
A million copies. Or more.
Don’t you think the auto workers would be pissed that they only got paid ONCE,
and ownership could get paid forever ? ON THE SAME Car ?
THAT’S the problem here.
We do the work once, and ownership can get paid into perpetuity by copying our
performance over and over.
On stage, actors basically get paid by the performance.
Why shouldn’t actors get paid in some small way PER PERFORMANCE on DVD ?
The “rest of the working world”, as you put it, generally doesn’t work in any field
where one single act of their labor can be used over and over and over again
to help their employers make billions.
So your analogy is piss poor.
You are either a corporate shill or a moron.
Saved the background actors union. Ha what a joke. Wheres my union card for being a background actor in movies then. Sag is a joke.
If the merger doesn’t happen AFTRA may want to change it’s name to The American Federation
of Radio and Televisions Sell-outs. AFTRA has done more to hurt actors than most producers.
Maybe they should merge with the them!
@RealityCheck the reason is that actors work, their individual performances are continually repackaged and resold to different markets and for new, constantly emerging forms of media. The producers and studios/networks figure out new ways to repackage and redistribute our performances for ever increasing new channels of revenue. If they make money, we make money. If they don’t (assuming they are honestly reporting profits) then we don’t. It’s pretty simple really. It goes that way for writers and directors as well. Residual or reuse payments are not something new and all of us pay taxes on that income. In fact, in non-union commercial work, a similar thing exists on most performer’s contracts, though negotiated individually, they are called “buy-out” payments and usually cover mulitple years of use. Sometimes even these contracts are violated by big firms and corporations but there’s no union to protect these non-union agreements and performers. AND I’m not sure at this point how I will vote as a SAG member on this issue with the merger but I think that it could be a good thing if done right and a very bad thing if done wrong or for the wrong purposes, it should improve and benefit both performer’s unions. I’m open to feedback from both sides of the SAG/AFTRA merger right now.
The only way you’ll get rid of AFTRA is to assimilate them out of existance through merger. Out-number them and vote them down democratically. Otherwise they’ll still be out there on your flank and making it impossible to have a strike. 2008, anybody? How’d you like that? The new SAG-AFTRA will be more than 80% actors and no more “50/50 Phase I rules” and a separate treasury and communications apparatus fighting against your message with actors –you have the power; quit cowering in front of the 98 lb weakling. It’s almost embarrassing.
As a paid-up member of both unions, someone explain this to me…
Why would I ever vote yes? I have seen nothing on how this would affect dues, performer rates, etc. Do I get a refund? How would it be fair to automatically join non-AFTRA members? Or will they now make the entry $4k+ ($2600+ I paid for SAG and $1400+ for AFTRA). How can I vote when it lacks core details?
Seems inevitable, though. We need 60% of “no” votes to squash it? What happened to 51%?
Furthermore, I love this quote: “…stand united through one union to secure more union work and better benefits for our members” – When has either union EVER gotten me work? Or even gotten me in the door to try and get work? (aka audition). Just because you’re one union doesn’t mean all of a sudden there’ll be more films/shows now.
By way of explanation, M. WhySayYes?
secure more union work MEANS create more union jurisdiction and fight against the intrusion of non-union work, especially in the commercials arena.
You will get answers to your questions when the ballot package goes out.
Hey Reality Check
FUCK YOU.
You insult actors by saying we have no rights to residuals,
and then ON THE SAME THREAD,
you try and act like THE VOICE OF REASON
by saying that after merger actors will outnumber everyone else
and that’s how we take control.
You are probably some hack lawyer who works for Aftra.
“Yeah guys, just merge and that way Aftra goes away!”
who do you think you’re fooling?
HOW ABOUT . . .
VOTE DOWN MERGER AND THEN DECERTIFY AFTRA . . .
That’s an alternative that has always existed
despite the nay-saying of Atfra-centric weasels such as yourself
the alternative you’ve mentioned?
Idiotic and flies in the face of reality, leaves thousands of working actors(daytime, front of book, etc) without any UNION coverage whatsoever for up to two years before they can recertify. That is really forward thinking. You MUST be a management parrot.
You’re so scared of a union made up of 80% actors that you think you should vote no? You must be scarred of actors. Maybe you should grow a set of balls.
I didn’t say anything about actors outnumbering everyone else in order to take control of the union.
You should calm down and think before you type.
I’m Voting YES.
I am a member of both Sag and Aftra for over twenty years. To have any chance at improving our contracts, merger is necessary.
Go to SAG! Go to Aftra. Ask questions. Educate yourself as to why this is a good measure. It is well worth a couple hours of your time.
Another thing that bothers me about voting “YES” is us actors who do background work, they use only 25 union for tv and 85 for Film
there will be so much more competiting for those few little union spots, if all of a Sudden all “Aftra” memembers are Sag
Please vote NO, ALL OF US WORKED SO HARD TO BE SAG, ITS NOT FAIR THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN EVERYONE WILL ALL OF A SUDDEN WILL BE SAG,
ITS THE LITTLE “ACTORS” TO THINK ABOUT, US WHO WORK BACKGROUND, SHORT FILMS, STUDENT FILMS, NOT THE HOLLYWOOD ACTORS WHO MAKE MILLIONS
Hey Eye Roller,
Here’s a “fact” regarding pensions.
Erisa can only guarantee a pension to the tune of about 13 cents on the dollar.
So if, for some reason, the SAG or Aftra pensions lose their funding,
fully vested individuals might be in for a rude awakening upon retirement.
Since there has apparently been no pre-merger feasibility study done to predict
what we as members might reasonably expect the scenario to be after merger,
and since the powers that be have flatly refused to consider doing one before the vote,
no, we don’t know that our pensions are safe.
How do you know that the pensions in either union will be safe ?
Do you have some secret knowledge ?
A crystal ball, perhaps ?
Why would the current leadership refuse to do an impact study before the vote ?
Could it be because, before the last merger vote in 2003,
the Mercer Report came out and said that merger would impact the SAG pension negatively ?
Could it be that the forces behind merger have decided
that they would not allow that to happen again ?
As the Mercer Report was probably what defeated merger last time ?
Could it be that the current leadership is determined to merge
even if it’s not in the best financial interests of the membership ?
Whaddya think ?
Reality Check,
Calm down and think before I type ?
No, I won’t calm down,
because we’re talking about my future
and the future of every other actor who actually works these contracts.
And think ?
Oh I’m thinking.
I’m thinking you’re a hack wanna-be who’s never collected a residual in their life.
First you come on this thread and say that actors have no right to residuals
and then you slither back in and say merger is a great idea and there’s nothing to be afraid of.
Oh yeah, Eye Roller ?
You say that thousands of actors who work in “daytime, Front of Book, etc.”,
will be left without union coverage for two years if Aftra is decertified.
First of all,
any people working in daytime are working contracts that have always been Aftra.
So you were what, pulling things out of your ass as you typed?
That’s it !
Pump up the fear factor so people won’t be able to clearly see
what would be in their best interests
We’re talking about stopping Aftra from repping actors
in scripted shows DONE IN THE FILMED MANNER.
Which would be all of the shows Aftra poached from SAG since the advent of digital.
This is what Aftra has padded their “Front of Book” with.
And any prime-time or cable shows that were under Aftra contracts at the time of decertification, would remain under those contracts until those shows were cancelled.
SAG doesn’t want any of the daytime contracts that have always belonged to Aftra .
SAG wants back what rightfully belongs to SAG.
Here’s another brilliant declaration by Eye Roller:
” . . . secure more union work MEANS create more union jurisdiction
and fight against the intrusion of non-union work.”
Really ?
You mean, like, the way Aftra created more union jurisdiction
by organizing Cable News over,let’s say, the past 30 years ?
OH ! WAIT ! MY BAD !
AFTRA NEVER DID organize cable news and so,
they NEVER DID create more union jurisdiction in a field that is so clearly in their back yard.
OOPS !
Or maybe you mean the way Aftra has labeled this cable news work as “NON-JURISDICTIONAL”,
and thereby ensuring that their broadcasters can continue this practice
of working off the card that they’ve enjoyed for three decades.
NOPE ! SORRY ! I’M WRONG AGAIN !
That’s not creating new jurisdiction.
That’s making up a fancy name to cover the fact that
AFTRA DIDN’T BOTHER TO CREATE JURISDICTION WHEN THEY SHOULD HAVE.
And really, why would broadcasters stick around in a new union that requires them
TO ONLY WORK UNION GIGS ?
They’ve been able to have their cake and eat it too, for thirty years.
If Aftra didn’t grandfather this anti-union loophole into the boilerplate of the new union
the broadcasters would say, “Fuck off.”, and the merger would be dead in the water.
Non-Jurisdictional.
Sounds so much prettier than working off the card.
Or scabbing.
Eye Roller says we’ll get the answers to our questions when the ballot package goes out.
Wow.
Sounds like Eye Roller is really plugged in.
Yeah, we’re all waiting for the exciting details of the big merger
And you’d better believe, this time ?
people will be pouring over this thing and asking lots of questions.