Comments on: AMPTP Leader and Long Time Adversary Nick Counter Dies

By: Eric

Eric — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:39:34 +0000

Can you clarify your position, Geo? The way I’m reading your opinion as written, it seems like you don’t understand the AMPTP. It’s simply an organization that brings together similar companies for the purpose of dealing with other trade organizations as a single entity rather than each company dealing individually.
What do you mean by “AMPTP by its very nature is a lowest-common-denominator entity inherently”?

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:11:10 +0000

Melissa, this is why I supported your Presidency. May cooler heads prevail in the future.

By: Fred W

Fred W — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:03:11 +0000

At the AFTRA Funds, I watched Counter occasionally quietly lose patience with other management trustees who had put the interests of their employers over the interest of the plan participants. A caucus or two and the fracture was resolved, often in his favor. He was not the sweetest man in the world, but he was smart and he was honest, and he valued the same qualities in others. Both plans would have been well served if all the management trustees followed his lead.

By: Finn Jones

Finn Jones — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:45:55 +0000

“A man with a conscience would wish, would deeply wish, to take back the words. A man who has no idea, none at all, what it means to lose someone you love will come up with a pathetic rationale.”

By: Melissa Gilbert

Melissa Gilbert — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:27:04 +0000

I am late to the discussion. I sat across the table from Nick twice during my presidency. I found him to be a smart capable negotiator. He was tough when he needed to be.
Personally, he was affable, kind and caring.

As president of SAG I understand the intricacies of internal politics. The board room. I understand them deeply. You think negotiating with people across the table was rough. Try negotiating with a fiery and divided board.

Make no mistake, Nick faced the same sort of division in his board room. His ability to bring his people to consensus was a gift.

The industry has suffered a horrible loss. I don’t think the ramifications will be felt for a while but there will be ramifications.

Nick was my adversary and friend and most importantly, he loved this business of show.

I, for one, will miss him and send my love and prayers to his family.

By: vested

vested — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:23:17 +0000

Could not agree more.

By: vested

vested — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:44:33 +0000

I wonder how many who’ve posted here have sat across from Counter in a negotiation. I have. He was a strong and deliberate, but a fair fighter. He had his obligations and goals, and we had ours.
His assignment was no more to lay down for our group as ours was to lay down for his group.
I’ve watched Counter in sparring matches with McGuire, and I can tell you this: he was a man who held a deep respect for our union , for what we do, and for our negotiator. But he was hired to do a job; he did it, and well.

God Bless Nick Counter’s family today. May they be comforted by His grace, and in the fact Counter had a life well lived.

May we all remember that the opponent is not always the enemy; sometimes he’s just the opponent.

–

Ed. Comment – Very well said. Nick was on the other side and he was a lawyer. He represented those who hired him, but never lost sight of the goal.

I think Sally Weaver put it well in a post on her blog:

Nick was a deal maker. He understood that the industry was better served by making reasonable labor agreements rather than disruptive labor disputes. He found solutions and worked through thorny issues on behalf of those he repeHis larger perspective also ran to his role on the benefit plans serving the industry workers. His objective in every plan meeting was how to have the beneficiaries of the plan get the benefit of the plan. He occasionally ran into disputes with the union trustees on those plas but those disputes were always about how to maintain the long term health of the plan and not how to avoid providing the best benefits possible.

By: geo

geo — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:41:22 +0000

I don’t note any inherent tension in what you wrote and what I wrote, ED. YMMV.

By: Denny Delk

Denny Delk — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:37:10 +0000

I worked with Nick Counter for many years on the AFTRA health and retirement funds. I also was part of various negotiating committees that sat across from him and the AMPTP. Obviously we did not always agree but I was always impressed at his ability to keep the disparate elements of the AMPTP together, which made the negotiating process a great deal calmer. He was a gracious, dedicated and humorous man. He was wise and thoughtful. I was sorry when he stepped down as a trustee. I am very sorry for his passing. My prayers go out to the family.

By: Dr. Giggles

Dr. Giggles — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:15:11 +0000

While many may view Nick as an ‘enemy’….because he was a tough negotiator….what did you expect him to do? Just give SAG everything they demanded?….Yes he was tough, but he did his job with respect for everyone at the table. One can only imagine where our contracts would be if someone else had been in that job for the past 27 years. We had successfully negotiated contracts – jointly with AFTRA – for all but the last year of Nick’s tenure….I say farewell to Nick and thanks for being a part of this industry. I say thanks and send condolences to his family.

The statement put out by SAG is appropriate, and I shudder to think of what the statement would have been if it were issued before the recent SAG elections.