Comments (10)

• Golly, I wonder how this will turn out? Could it be true AFTRA will do the right thing and tell the AMPTP to go fuck itself? Ummmmm…okay, I know they’ll sell out their membership for a few silver coins and a box of donuts, but a guy can dream, can’t he?

  Comment by Hank Hollyweird — July 8, 2008 @ 2:41 pm  Reply to this post

• Yes, heaven forbid they should accept the same deal that the WGA got after an extended strike as accepted by the DGA. Who are those writer’s and director’s anyway. I am surprised SAG and AFTRA even allow their actors to work with writer’s and director’s given how those guilds just rolled over without a fight.

  Jeez.

  Comment by EveryoneForgetsItsTheSameDeal — July 8, 2008 @ 3:08 pm  Reply to this post

• Hank,
  I’d like to recommend a book to you: Confessions of a Union Buster. Maybe that’ll clear up your problem.

  Comment by Working SAG/AFTRA Actor — July 8, 2008 @ 3:13 pm  Reply to this post

• I’m waiting with baited breath to see if AFTRA’s members have the courage to turn down this contract.

  Frankly, I doubt there will be a strike this year because I don’t see anywhere near the solidarity or commitment, much less militancy that the WGA membership demonstrated.

  I hope I’m wrong, because much as I’d like to see a strike avoided, I’d also like to see actors, writers and directors alike get a truly fair share in any and all revenues that studios and networks generate from their creativity.

  Unless Mr. Rosenberg and Mr. Allen know upfront they have 85% or more of SAG’s membership behind them to call a strike, it looks like they may lack the leverage THIS YEAR to obtain the types of gains they want for their members.

  Note I said “THIS YEAR.” Using a long term strategy, perhaps their best course of action would be to make the best deal they can for now, and immediately begin laying the groundwork for the 2011 contract, starting with programs to educate their membership on what’s at stake combined with crunching numbers to both justify the new demands and effectively address the AMPTP’s issues, some of which are legitimate, while others are simply greed.

  Comment by Indie Guy — July 8, 2008 @ 3:50 pm  Reply to this post

• Below the line says….

  Get back to work! Create an above the line alliance for 2011 talks and suck it up. While you are at it, restructure the voting in SAG (and others) so you need a certain amount of hours per year to keep your card. Heck, I know a prop guy with 2 credits… pays 67 bucks and gets a vote equal to the bigwigs. Thats wrong.

  Comment by Below the line — July 8, 2008 @ 4:46 pm  Reply to this post

• I was wondering when the vote was taking place. I never received a ballot. Could it have been that scathing e-mail I sent to Reardon’s office? I hate conspiracy theories but…..

  PPS (Vested Dual Member)

  Comment by Paul Satterfield — July 8, 2008 @ 5:50 pm  Reply to this post

• Exclusive: Aftra ratifies @ 62%. Finke?

  Comment by Page — July 8, 2008 @ 6:40 pm  Reply to this post

• Indie Guy, well said. There should be a 3-year plan, a 6-year plan, maybe 10.

  And part of that plan should be studying the feasibility of getting out of that Museum Square lease, buying a facility, preferably one attached to a studio that SAG could franchise/take over, and we can get our rates without a battle. In three years, SAG leadership should have an entire business model like this in place if for nothing else than to bring to the bargaining table and threaten the AMPTP with obsolescence.

  Comment by Jenius — July 8, 2008 @ 7:13 pm  Reply to this post

• As long as SAG and AFTRA members tee off on each other publicly we’ll all be in jeopardy. Go to meetings; get involved; you’ll learn how incredibly complicated all these issues are. Try to find it within yourself to trust the motives of your fellow union members who passionately disagree with you – even if they seem to be wrong. Think about what the word UNION means. (Yes, a “Guild” and a “Union” are treated just the same by the law of the land.) Try and learn something from The Teamsters. Finding common ground and learning to co-exist with different points of view is the way to make all actors’ lives better.

  Comment by low-key — July 8, 2008 @ 7:16 pm  Reply to this post

• Love the way most everyone is chicken shit to use their real names.
  PPS

  Comment by Paul Satterfield — July 8, 2008 @ 8:41 pm  Reply to this post