I hope everyone saw this email from the Guild this weekend.  (Text of the press release below after my email).

 It has been said that the current leadership is ruled by ego and interested only in saber-rattling and bullying in order to get its way.

 The resolution that came out of the S.A.G. National Board room this weekend was one that was voted up unanimously. Read the rest of this entry » »

SAG Actors, 

Given that in labor history any significant gains almost always require a strike to achieve, is there something at stake in this SAG contract negotiation that you would walk out for: That you believe means the difference between being able to make a living as an actor being unable to? 

**  If not getting jurisdiction down to dollar zero (meaning that every AMPTP production no matter how low the budget would have to be done union) meant giving away a place for our signatory employers to do non-union work, would you strike for that?  (Note:  Many feel that this would be akin to making the same mistakes we made decades ago in cable in VHS/DVD Home video by allowing our employers to cultivate a non-union workspace.) 

** If we don’t get any increase in DVD and break the strangle-hold that has existed for more than two decades when projections are that home video/DVD will remain at the present income levels well into if not through the next contract (many are projecting at least the next 6 years), meaning more than 10 billion dollars lost, would you strike over that?

**  Are you a background actor?  Would you be willing to strike if SAG got no more than the 1 covered actor increase that AFTRA got without even excluding stand-ins?

** If we don’t get adequate protection for actors who are then forced to give away consent for clips at the time they are hired when they are the most vulnerable and the studios continue to sell those clips (the returns are already in the hundreds of millions of dollars for companies like YouTube as our employers purchase channels and provide clips and content  (see for yourself: GooTube)) would you be willing to strike over that?

** Would you strike if you made your living primarily in commercials and the studios were forcing you to endorse, for example, Coke on an episode of The Office and that endorsement FOR NO MONEY disqualified you from doing a commercial for any competing soft drink or years possibly as that clip was sold to MySpace and went viral?  What if Product placement continues to become more popular and the series regulars do all the endorsing and commercial opportunities diminish even more significantly than they already have for your typical commercial actor?

**  Do you do a lot of driving to jobs?  Would you be willing to strike over an increase in the mileage reimbursement in this time of $4-$5/gallon gasoline when the federal rate is 58 cents and we have been making 30 cents for decades?

**  Is there legitimately ANYTHING you would strike over?  Let me know.

**  Is there legitimately NOTHING you would strike over?  Let me know.

Thank you for your responses.  Your input is important to me and I will convey your thoughts to the negotiating committee.

In solidarity.

Anthony De Santis 

As you can see in our list of links in the column to the right, actors have swung into action creating video shorts regarding negotiations and the AFTRA situation.  Add these to the shorts on our page under the Short Films button and you will see a rather large and impressive collection of work from members of the true creative actors union, the Screen Actors Guild.

Contrast that with the Talent-Free “I’m Voting Yes” garbage that a bunch of broadcasters made and it will be abundantly clear the people who are in charge over at AFTRA have no business pretending to speak for and negotiate for professional actors.  (Here is a link to the Broadcasters’ collection of crap.  Love the “Spanish” one.  Couldn’t find a self-respecting Spanish Language actor to record this?  Good for them. AFTRA Talent-Free videos)

Let’s hope that we don’t all end up working under a contract brought to you and voted on by your local news anchor.  Let’s be honest.  What the hell do they know about working conditions and wages for actors?There is a reason why they aren’t asked to participate in the working and wages conditions committee meetings leading up to negotiations.  BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING THERE AND VOTING ON OUR CONTRACTS.

You can do something about it.  Call AFTRA NOW.  Tell them you are sick of what they are doing and that they should leave actors contracts to the ACTORS’ UNION.  Screen Actors Guild.  Tell them to go back to the table and at the very least, negotiate jointly with the Screen Actors Guild.

AFTRA:  losangeles@aftra.com  323.634.8100,  323.634.8246 fax

You can also see a list of AFTRA Locals here:  AFTRA locals

Give ‘em hell.