I had repeatedly asked both unions to give me tallies on how many primetime network scripted shows this next 2009/2010 TV season will be under SAG's or AFTRA's administration, and especially the breakdown of new shows since so much inaccurate information was being tossed around during the contract vote. Finally SAG replied. AFTRA has yet to answer despite PR assurances it would.

2009/2010 Scripted Prime Time Schedule (Screen Actors Guild figures)
SAG 69%
AFTRA 31%

2009/2010 Returning Series
SAG 44
AFTRA 5

2009/2010 Pilot Pickups
SAG 5
AFTRA 25

Los Angeles (June 7, 2009) -- The Equal Employment Opportunities Committees of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and the Ethnic Employment Opportunities Committee of Screen Actors Guild (SAG) are delighted to announce the 7th annual Ivy Bethune Tri-Union Diversity Awards, honoring actor and activist George Takei; actor, writer and teacher Dr. Victoria Ann Lewis; dancer Cheryl Burke; and stand-up comedian/storyteller Charlie Hill. The event will be held on June 29, 2009 at 7 p.m. in East West Players’ David Henry Hwang Theatre (120 N Judge John Aiso Street in Downtown Los Angeles). Attendance is free for members of the three unions.

I told you that some anti-merger SAG members were running in the AFTRA board elections. Well, turned out they won. This, despite the fact that certain AFTRA members tried to sink their candidacies with smear emails. I suppose turnabout is fair play. (During the recent SAG elections, a group of pro-AFTRA merger members got themselves elected to the SAG Board.) Now Anne-Marie Johnson (SAG’s 1st vice president, chairman of the SAG Hollywood Board, and one of Membership First's leaders), and Alan Ruck (an MF stalwart) won places on AFTRA's National Board. David Jolliffe (another MF stalwart) won a place on AFTRA's Los Angeles Local Board. It's all perfectly legal: they are dual card-holders and therefore eligible to be AFTRA candidates because they qualified for the ballot by nominating petition. Here are the election results:

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 3, 2009) -- The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced today election results for the AFTRA Los Angeles Local.

Actor Ron Morgan was re-elected President of AFTRA Los Angeles and will begin his new two-year term as Local President on July 1; he ran unopposed in his bid for reelection. Mr. Morgan was also elected to the AFTRA National Board of Directors for a four-year term; he also serves as a National Vice President of the union.

Also uncontested in their reelection for two-year terms as officers for AFTRA Los Angeles were First Vice President Susan Boyd Joyce, a singer; actor Gabrielle Carteris, Second Vice President; Third Vice President

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Los Angeles (May 21, 2009)—In nationwide voting completed today, members of the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have overwhelmingly approved new three-year successor agreements to the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Television Commercials Contract and the 2006 AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts. The memberships of AFTRA and SAG voted 93.84% percent in favor of the new agreements. Approximately 132,000 members of the unions received ballots, of which 28% percent returned them.

There's a new "MergePlease" movement with this as its slogan. There's a website, a T-shirt, and postcards circulating with the selling slogan, "Wear it like your health insurance depends on it" along with a disclaimer that neither SAG nor AFTRA are involved. The website claims it was set up by "the SAG-AFTRA Merger group on FaceBook".

SAG has sent out this announcement about the joint Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA Commercials Contracts ballot and member informational meetings notice"

Dear Member:

As you know, your Joint SAG/AFTRA National Board of Directors and Joint SAG/AFTRA Commercials Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve and recommend your YES vote, on the terms of new three-year successor agreements to the 2006 SAG Television Commercials Contract and the 2006 AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts.

Your 2009-2012 Screen Actors Guild Television Commercials Contracts and AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts Referendum Summary and Ballot is on its way to you in the mail today.

Look for your summary and ballot to arrive in your mailbox in the next few days, read all of the materials carefully, vote YES to approve your new commercials contracts, and mail your ballot before the deadline. Your ballot must be received via U.S. Mail at the Everett, WA, Post Office Box by 5:00 P.M. (PDT) Thursday, May 21, 2009.

Please remember:

· Ballots must be mailed in the postage-paid return envelope included with the ballot materials.

· Ballots cannot be mailed or delivered to SAG or AFTRA offices. Ballots that are not received at the Everett, WA, Post Office Box by 5:00 p.m. (PDT) on Thursday, May 21, will not be counted.

· Please be sure to read the voting instructions carefully before casting your vote.

Click here to view the referendum materials online and learn more about the new agreements.

To help you learn more about the

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I suppose turnabout is fair play. During the recent SAG elections, a group of pro-AFTRA merger members got themselves elected to the SAG Board. Now some anti-AFTRA merger members of SAG are trying to get on the AFTRA board. Anne-Marie Johnson (one of Membership First's leaders and the VP of SAG's Hollywood Division), and Alan Ruck (an MF stalwart), and David Jolliffe (another MF stalwart), and Dave Clennon (an outspoken critic of the louisy terms of the AFTRA contract along with the other two) are all running for the 11 open seats representing Los Angeles on AFTRA's National Board. It's all perfectly legal: they are dual card-holders and therefore eligible to be AFTRA National Board candidates because they qualified for the ballot by nominating petition. (If I missed some names, give me a shout-out...)

Here is the AFTRA announcement tonight:

Los Angeles, California (April 16, 2009)—The Los Angeles Local of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists—the people who entertain and inform America — announced the complete list of candidates for its 2009 election of Los Angeles Officers and Board members, Los Angeles-based National Board members, and delegates to the 2009 AFTRA National Convention.

All seven incumbent AFTRA Los Angeles Officers were named candidates for re-election by the AFTRA Los Angeles Nominating Committee and will run unopposed for additional two-year terms. They include Los Angeles President Ron Morgan; First Vice President Susan Boyd Joyce; Second Vice President Gabrielle Carteris; Third Vice President Bobbie Bates; Fourth

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NEW YORK (APRIL 1, 2009)—Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced today that the AFTRA/SAG Joint Negotiating Committee has reached a unanimous tentative agreement with the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) on terms for successor agreements to the AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts and the SAG Television Commercials Contract, subject to approval by the SAG/AFTRA Joint National Board.

The new three-year agreement contains a more than $36 million increase in wage rates and other payments for all categories of performers in the first year of the contracts, approximately $21 million in increased contributions to the SAG Pension and Health Plan and the AFTRA Health and Retirement Fund, establishment of a payment structure for work made for the Internet and other New Media platforms, important new monitoring provisions, and improvements for choreographers, extras, and Spanish language performers.

The new contracts also contain an agreement in principle outlining terms for a pilot study for the purpose of testing the Gross Rating Points (GRP) model of restructuring compensation to performers as proposed by Booz & Co. The two-year study is scheduled to commence on April 15 and will be conducted by a jointly retained consultant engaged by the Unions and the Industry. The results and possible adoption of the study’s findings will be subject to negotiation by the parties not later than January 3, 2012.

The unions successfully protected the critical “Class A” payment

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On Saturday, February 7, the Joint National Board of Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists met in videoconference plenary in Los Angeles and New York and approved by an overwhelming majority a package of proposals for the changes to the AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts and SAG Television Commercials Contract. The SAG and AFTRA Commercials Contracts will be bargained under the terms of the Phase One Agreement that applies to the Commercials Contracts negotiations only. Negotiations are scheduled to commence on February 23 in New York.