A lot of new actors may not recognize the names of Morgan or Cantor, but they ought to be exposed to who they are and what they accomplished. The first generation of union builders is gone, and the ones who learned from them are nearly gone, too. I learned so much about SAG and AFTRA from people like John Randolph and Frank Maxwell. Understanding the heritage these men represent would go a long way to rebuilding the sense of real loyalty to the unions and their ideals that has been so damaged recently.

And add a session on P&H and H&R. Explain how they work and how to make the most of it. I used to show up at NY local orientation meetings just to pass out census cards for new members. I always ended up doing a Q & A session that usually paid dividends down the line.

I was always in favor of a qualifing seminar to get your card in any actor union.

It would be a mandatory seminar all about

1) rules of the membership (Global Rule 1 for example)
2) expected professional behavior on a set (very important and right now everyone learns on the job)
3) professional principles in general
4) How to treat your career like a business
5) benefits of being a union member
6) all about serving the union

very basic things like that. You don’t get your card unless you attend a certain number of hours.

It may be costly at first, but better in the longrun for actors and producers alike.

There could also be a nominal fee involved.

But in principle, the choice of actor for a role has more dimensions than the choice of sheet metal worker for a HVAC project. Or is the choice of leading and main supporting actors equivalent to the selection of a contractor, where qualitative differences of experience, specialization and aesthetic sensibility become deciding factors (along with price)?

I think it would be a mistake to allow this thing to continue to drag out, well beyond the time limits set in the written agreement. There is the potential for bitter complaints about an “August surprise” if this thing doesn’t get resolved soon. And as far as that goes, foes of AMJ would be just as justified in being very angry if she were to manage to eek out a win and then a decision against SAG pointing at her conduct was made public afterwards.

At any rate, this has dragged on too long, and it is time to deal with it one way or the other.

Plumbers, pipefitters, electricians, HVAC technicians and the like generally have to serve a five-year apprenticeship with union-mandated training classes. How many years of apprenticeship does one have to serve to become a full member of SAG or AFTRA?

After their apprenticeship, the new full union members can enroll in journey programs to develop specialties in their respective crafts. How many years is the SAG/AFTRA journey program?

Since you have referred to NY members “Vaginas” why do you want to serve in NY?

But look at Mulhern’s e-mailed screed and you can see that not everyone believes in cross-union solidarity. Mulhern, for example, either believes it is impossible or downright undesirable.

And for those who do believe that there should be cross-union solidarity, my third question asks them to state what actions they believe SAG should take to achieve that goal.

So I don’t think the questions, as a set, are neither meaningful or useful. I think that the anodyne rhetoric of the SAGNOW! announcement about unity and collaboration shows that the candidates need to be probed and pushed until they tell truthfully whether their vision of cooperation is consensus between factions and unions, or simply capitulation by all other factions and unions to their particular world view.