SAGWatch – Observing the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA

This was forwarded to us today, originally from Ned Vaughn and Amy Brennerman.

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From: Ned Vaughn & Amy Brenneman <info@uniteforstrength.com>
Date:  Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:05:29 -0700
To: SAG Members <info@uniteforstrength.com>
Subject: Unite for Strength: SAG Members Committed to Change

 

Fellow SAG members,
 
Earlier this year, over 1500 of us petitioned SAG leadership to institute affected member voting on the TV/theatrical contract because we believed it would increase the guild’s leverage going into the negotiation. As we’ve already written you, the leadership dismissed our proposal without discussion, with some even questioning our motives.
 
But that was a tiny misstep compared to their strategy for dealing with our sister union in the run-up to negotiations. Instead of joining forces so we could confront our employers from a position of maximum strength, our leadership went on the attack against AFTRA. Here’s how Sally Field described it in a letter to SAG members:
 
“This spring, with the most important contract negotiation in years pending, the board – or more accurately, Membership First, which is the faction that 49 of 55 Hollywood board members belong to – decided to go to war with AFTRA, our sister union. They threatened to terminate the longstanding practice of jointly negotiating the TV/Theatrical contract and launched an assault on AFTRA in the press, with one Membership First board member going so far as to call AFTRA “a scumbag union.”
 
“Ultimately, they were forced to abandon their referendum threatening to end joint negotiation after receiving a storm of criticism from SAG members that doing so would weaken our position at the bargaining table. But the hostility toward AFTRA continued, and AFTRA ultimately decided it couldn’t trust SAG enough to negotiate the contract together.
 
“And so here we are, negotiating on our own with diminished leverage against a united front of media conglomerates.”
 
We believe actors deserve better. We don’t want to face the same situation again when we negotiate the commercials contract this fall – or any other contract. Too much is at stake. That’s why we and 29 colleagues are running for seats in the SAG board election next month. Our goal is to end Membership First’s control of the board so we can put the Guild on a different path – toward greater unity and strength. If our slate is elected, we’ll end the senseless infighting with AFTRA and instead move to merge our two unions. We’ll work tirelessly to ensure that when we negotiate with our employers in the future, all performers will stand united – not divided into two warring camps.
 
We’ll also work to solve a host of other problems that plague our union, such as fiscal mismanagement, divisiveness between Hollywood and the New York and Regional Branch Divisions, and the lack of any serious effort to negotiate an agreement with our agents, which has left members completely unprotected. (For more on our platform, see our website: www.UniteforStrength.com .)
 
But first we need your help to get elected. Membership First is well organized and well funded, but we’ve assembled a great team of candidates to challenge them. What we need right now is money to help us spread our message to other members. Our time is volunteered, but there are significant expenses attached to such a campaign. For example, the cost of mailing to over 50,000 Hollywood Division members will be enormous. If you agree that SAG needs new leadership and needs it now, please visit www.UniteforStrength.com to make as generous a contribution as you can.
 
With respect and thanks,
 
Ned Vaughn & Amy Brenneman
 
On behalf of the Unite for Strength candidates:
Adam Arkin
Michelle Allsopp
Edoardo Ballerini
Bob Bergen
L. Scott Caldwell
Gabrielle Carteris
William Charlton
Assaf Cohen
Ashley Crow
Tim DeKay
Fred Fein
Googy Gress
Dulé Hill
Ken Howard
Clyde Kusatsu
Matt Letscher
John Carroll Lynch
Anthony Molinari
Pamela Reed
Doug Savant
Bill Smitrovich
Richard Speight, Jr.
Mandy Steckelberg
Keith Szarabajka
Steve Tom
Stacey Travis
Tom Verica
Marcia Wallace
Kate Walsh

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