AFTRA negotiators and the unit members work together to figure out what’s possible, what to ask for and what to give up in order to get something else. The they go to the table. Perhaps Susan should be the point person for the unit. Maybe she would have responded differently.

I am AFTRA since 1969 and SAG since 1986. From where I sit, both unions are being played big time by the producers. Some of the above comments are so well spun their real motives are almost invisible, but the bottom line is that they divide AFTRA and SAG.

As long as the members remain uninformed, misinformed, passive, or passive-aggressive, we will continue to be played rather than payed.

Getting a consensus in a workforce as widely distributed geographically as AFTRA and SAG members are is a real problem. Email and posts seem like a good idea, but fail miserably when the content increases in complexity and in emotion.

The producers will be happy to make sure these condition continue to thwart solidarity.

In a post last week I saw someone mention the idea of keeping members who have a conflict of interest from voting on the contracts. My question is, how long have members with a recognized conflict of interest been allowed to vote? Shouldn’t they be Provisional Members with no voting or office holding capabilities?

Who are these AFTRA SAG members?

Regards,

Ty Ford

How about the “Provocateurs Rotting in Studio City and Remembering When Committee…” or “Accountants for Membershipfirst We Hate AFTRA Committee”…or “Morons and Wastrels for SAGDOGWASH.COM Committee”…or “Old Bitter Fat Guys Divorced From Show Business But Still Passing Gas Committtee?”

We all REALLY believe in Susan and what she stands for, as embodied in the charter of the “Complete Lack of Sincerity and Union-Busting Committee.”

I think SF had been ill recently (maybe a year ago?) and she had to miss some shows. Maybe that finally motivated her to address the healthcare and pension plans? Regardless, I think she’s justified in her own opinions and course of action.

After I found out from this site that AFTRA blamed B&B and SAG, I believed SAG. I just wished Susan Flannery had cleared up the situation sooner in the public media. I just had a strong feeling that SAG and her good name were being soiled. I was actually going to write her to encourage her to do so (I told you i was a fan!). I felt like she is the type of person who would d the right thing. I’m glad she wrote this letter, I just wished she sent it to the media, too. She shouldn’t let AFTRA use her actions as a public scapegoat to ruin her good name. She should defend herself abnd SAG publicly by sharing this info.

However I’m sure poaching and undercutting deals on shows like Dirt and Damages and sitcoms like ‘Til Death and Rules of Engagement sure looks good to AFTRA.

Peggy Lane O’Rourke

No, I did you miss the part where Susan said (and Doug and Alan said in earlier post) that she was also a member of SAG. Doug and Alan did NOT have an obligation to advise her — only to hear her out. Once they were apprised of what she wanted (decertification of AFTRA in favor of SAG) they had a legal obligation to back off — which belatedly — they did. As Union execs and officials they are legally enjoined from what they were
doing…but they apparently didn’t think there was any difference between high-level executive visits and exploratory phone calls before they walked into a highly visible minefield…

Extending a professional courtesy to Miss Flannery was appropriate, but this was never the issue. You want me to believe they weren’t briefed about the subject of their visit to another union’s shop?

Oh and about the “intermediaries” I indicated were not mentioned in Miss Flannery’s statement: I noticed Lee (above) wrote “…shouldn’t someone ask what role William Daniel’s wife, Bonnie Bartlett, played in the B&B debacle?”

Enough said.

And it is a tragic irony that the majority of elected “leaders” on the Hollywood SAG Board - “membershipfirst” dyed-in-the-woolies - while they SAY they want stronger contracts for actors, the repeated result of their strategy (2000 commercials strike, dragged out interminably, permanently wrecking commercials as a way for actors to survive, their concerted, highly organized year-long effort to discredit AFTRA and the relsulting near-irreparable disunity) has given us nothing but the echoes of laughter from the AMPTP. Nice work, kids!

And thanks for nothing.
Sincerely,
Hollywood SAG & AFTRA Actors

MF wreaked havoc on the industry with their ill-conceived commercial strike in 2000. Although they paint the end result as having been historic and positive, those of us who make a living on commercials have never recovered. You can thank MF for giving ad agencies a crash course in taking work out of our country.

Sadly they remain delusional and are hell-bent on a course that could lead to the destruction of their own Guild. Some of their current contract proposals are a sure-fire prescription to kill as much U.S. production as possible. Oh, it’ll be great if they win what they’re after, but if theirs no work left in the ruins, what’s gained?
As Philip K. Dick said, “Reality is that thing which doesn’t cease to exist just because you refuse to believe in it.”

Oh, and shouldn’t someone ask what role William Daniel’s wife, Bonnie Bartlett, played in the B&B debacle? MF members are trolling AFTRA covered shows. AFTRA was right to walk away from Phase 1 since the current SAG leadership have proven themselves untrustworthy.

Actors would not be be in this fix if SAG’s Hollywood leadership and Doug Allen had chosen, in January 2007, to renegotiate and repair SAG’s relationship with AFTRA - including clearing up jurisdictional issues. This course was strongly urged by the New York and Regional Division Boards ‘way back then, and Doug Allen and MembershipFirst refused. They are totally responsible for the state we find ourselves in.

Laughable…but then, so are Flannery’s imperious antics.