October 30, 2008 by WW.

Here’s the schedule for Commericals Contract W&W Sessions in Los Angeles and New York.

Please join your fellow members to discuss issues you’d like to see addressed in the upcoming Commercials Contracts negotiations. Participation will be limited only by fire rules. Come early and bring your membership card.

LOS ANGELES
Where: Cagney Boardroom
5757 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036

When: Thursday, Nov. 6
6:30–9 p.m.
Topic: On-camera Performers

When: Tuesday, Nov. 11
6:30–9 p.m.
Topic: Voice Over Actors, Radio Announcers, and Singers

When: Thursday, Nov. 13
6:30–9 p.m.
Topic: Background Actors

NEW YORK
When: Wednesday, Nov. 5
12–2 p.m.
Topic: Voice Over Actors, Radio Announcers, and Singers

Where: Leon Janney Boardroom
360 Madison Ave.
(14th Floor)

When: Wednesday, Nov. 12
12–2 p.m.
Topic: On-camera Performers (Including Background Actors)

Where: AFTRA Boardroom
260 Madison Ave.
(7th Floor)

If you cannot attend, make sure your voice is heard. You may submit proposal recommendations by email at commercialswandw@aftra.com or commercialswandw@sag.org. The Joint Wages and Working Conditions Committee will review all recommendations.

Posted in Commercials Contract | Print | No Comments »

October 30, 2008 by WW.

The AMPTP met with mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez today, and issued a brief, non committal statement:

The AMPTP met this afternoon with federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez. During the meeting AMPTP presented details of the AMPTP’s Final Offer to SAG, along with background information on the major labor agreements that AMPTP has reached this year with WGA, DGA and AFTRA, which served as the basis for our Final Offer to SAG. The federal mediator indicated that he will advise the parties as to the next step in the process.  

The good news is that the producers apparently didn’t say “take it or leave it” - there’s a “next step in the process.” What we hear is that there are some AMPTP members who are less hard line than others, and that given the new leadership at SAG, there could even be a play to throw the union a bone.

The problem with all that is that the rest of the AMPTP remains totally over the Allens and Membership First, not interested in doing anything but watch them twist slowly in the wind, even if it means the rest of the union twists there with them. Then there’s the economy.

Stand by…

Update: Here’s Variety’s take.

McNary offers one little tidbit, pretty much consistent with what we’re hearing:

“Sources close to the studios said there are two key points for the congloms:

• The AMPTP’s willing to continue with the mediation process but won’t change the new-media framework it’s used for earlier deals with the DGA, WGA and AFTRA.

• Economic conditions have worsened in the four months since SAG received the final offer.

 ” 

Posted in Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | No Comments »

October 30, 2008 by Editor.

Even if you’re on another planet (and, yes, we have our suspicions about some of you) you probably have noticed there’s an election this coming Tuesday. In an election season, some unions sometimes take political positions - but SAG and AFTRA don’t.

Which leads us to the latest Membership First folly. Egged on by the internet troll whose antics led us to start this blog, ousted SAG Membership First director Steven Barr, who  holds an AFTRA board slot, is out front railing against the Chicago SAG/AFTRA office for its publication of the AFL-CIO’s endorsement list in the current issue of the Chicago local newsletter, “Executive Edition.”

The publication went out under this heading,

“AFTRA does not endorse any political candidates or parties. In an effort to elect officials who are dedicated to protecting workers’ rights, the Illinois AFL-CIO endorses the following candidates. This information from the AFL-CIO is offered as a tool to give AFTRA members a means of making their own judgments about the candidates. The union does not have a position on these candidates.”

That apparently wasn’t enough for Barr or his allies. Barr called it “wilfull disobedience of a crystal clear SAG policy” and added,

From this date forward S.A.G should have full veto power of EVERY word printed in any joint AFTRA/S.A.G magazine, newsletter or website, and contracts for Joint offices should be re negotiated so that if AFTRA EVER does this again, S.A.G can withhold payments to joint offices for this exact transgression.

Was he done? No. “Hey if AFTRA wants to anger their high profile members — that’s their business,” he wrote. “At S.A.G we don’t do that.”

Barr insisted, “When the Chicago AFTRA/SAG Office published the names of individual candidates they knew they were violating a longstanding S.A.G policy.” Barr says it’s “another reason why a {SAG/AFTRA} merger may not be so wonderful an idea for many in Hollywood.”  His sidekick argues that it shows that SAG and AFTRA shouldn’t share offices.

Just one problem - or maybe three or four. It turns out that at SAG, we do do that. More importantly, no less than Doug Allen, Pamm Fair and Pam Greenwalt each reviewed the “Executive Edition” article prior to publication, and each of them approved it. In advance.

And right after that, SAG took a position against Prop 8 (the California anti gay marriage proposition,) with First V.P. Anne-Marie Johnson quoted in the press release on the SAG website.

So, we’re not quite clear. Is some politics OK, but not all? Is Doug Allen no longer in charge of SAG? Or is this just the usual nonsense from our favorite gang, hating anything they’ve decided wasn’t their idea?

Posted in SAG-AFTRA | Print | 4 Comments »

October 30, 2008 by WW.

The new SAG Board has launched a long overdue attempt to actually send residual payments out to people, rather than the longstanding practice of simply letting the money sit in union accounts. One of the more ridiculous claims made under Membership First was that the union couldn’t find people like Mick Jagger, Michael Dukakis and Nancy Reagan, all of whom have money waiting for them at SAG.The union’s refusal to deal with the problem, which involves tens of millions of dollars, led to a lawsuit which SAG is still trying to settle. It’s not clear if the new campaign is part of an attempt to settle the case. Variety has a story on the campaign this morning.

SAG’s launching a “Get Your Money” campaign, aimed at distributing some of the more than $25 million in “unclaimed residuals” it hasn’t given to more than 66,000 people — including heirs of John F. Kennedy, Clark Gable, Alan Ladd, Freddie Prinze and Redd Foxx along with such notables as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Michael Dukakis and Nancy Reagan.In notices included in the current SAG Actor and Call Sheet publications, the guild said it’s facing a “dilemma” in getting the funds distributed because it doesn’t have the correct addresses in most cases.”Some residuals checks belong to nonmembers or one-time actors, many of whom aren’t even aware that they have residuals coming to them,” the ad said. “In an effort to reduce this surplus, the finance committee is embarking on a marketing campaign to get the word out to possible residuals recipients.”

Posted in SAG Politics, Media Business | Print | 3 Comments »