My three-year term on Board of the Screen Actors Guild is ending, and I’m running again (for the eggs, of course).  SAG members should receive their ballots today — I’m at #43.

I’m running on the slate of Membership First.  Our primary goal:  Merge all of SAG & AFTRA actors into one union.

Below is a bit more information on Membership First.

If you’re a SAG member, please vote.  It’s your union.  Exercise your voice.

membershipfirst.blogspot.com

Imagine the benefits of merging all actors into one union:

    • Hassle-free qualifying for just one Health & Pension

          plan.

    • Simplicity of a single dues payment.

    • Unified membership focused on actors’ financial

          security.

Sound pretty good?  We think so, too.  

Join us in supporting a SAG-AFTRA merger of All Actors into One Union.  

One purpose.  One voice.  

Q: What kind of SAG-AFTRA merger does Membership First support?

A: One which brings all actors — and only actors — into

       one union.

Q: Who does Membership First mean by ‘actors’ in an all-actors union?

A: Principal and background actors, stunt performers &

       pilots, dancers, singers, puppeteers.

Q: Why not also merge with AFTRA’s non-actors (broadcasters, journalists, DJ’s, etc.)?  Isn’t more better?

A: Not in this case.  They could vote on our contracts —

       but they have no experience with actors’ concerns.

       In fact, they have conflicting interests which could

       make them vote against actors’ concerns.  Also, they

       don’t increase our leverage because legally, they can’t

       walk out with us.  Merging with them threatens the

       very strength we need this merger to achieve.

Membership First’s Balanced Approach to Merger:

• Merge all of SAG & AFTRA actors into one union.

• Hire an outside merger consultant.  Merging unions is

     highly complex and costly.  It requires innovation and

     specialists.  It’s too important to be created by Board

     members/SAG staff alone.

• Include the members:  Conduct town hall meetings,

     caucuses and surveys.

• Preserve the financial security of SAG’s Pension & Health

    Plans.  The problems of combining SAG’s & AFTRA’s

    plans have not been resolved. Membership First would

    do so before merger.

• Protect every SAG member’s right to vote.  All members

    could vote on this merger.

MEMBERSHIP FIRST:  A VOTE

FOR A MERGED, 

ALL-ACTOR UNION

Membership First Candidates 

(as listed on your ballot):

For more info, please see www.membershipfirst.blogspot.com           




Membership First endorses these independent candidates:

#3   John Tremaine   #4  Mobin Khan       

#17 Leigh French      #48 Rico Bueno

*Not paid for with SAG funds*

SAG and AFTRA are considering merging with one another.  Although the merger won’t move into high gear until 2011, it’s especially important for SAG members to understand this issue now, because next week they’ll be voting for new members of the SAG Board of Directors.  I’m a candidate, and I’m running on the slate of Membership First.

Most actors, myself included, are in favor of a merger.  There’s little benefit in splitting our screen work between two unions.  However — it must be a merger under terms which strengthen actors’ voice and preserve their independence.  This seems pretty obvious, right?  If a merger won’t strengthen actors, why do it at all?

To help produce this result, I and my fellow candidates for the Board in Membership First want a simple solution:  All Actors in One Union.

The sticking point to this is that AFTRA has many non-actor members (broadcasters, weathermen, etc.).  Some people are so eager for a merger that they’d like to bring non-actors over into an all-actors union.  But doing so would likely mean that these non-actors would vote on actors’ contracts.

There are a couple very big problems with this.  First, non-actors are not familiar with actors’ concerns (residuals, contract terms for different types of roles, etc.).  [And the reverse is true:  Actors don’t know the concerns of non-actors—although in one big union, actors would be voting on their contracts.]

The second problem is that non-actors don’t work under actors’ contracts.   They aren’t affected by such contracts.  If the contracts improve, they don’t benefit from them.

Therefore, they’re unlikely to vote with actors on standing tough on certain contract issues:  Why would (or should) non-actors risk losing days at work by voting to improve someone else’s contract?

Also, because the non-actors would be a minority in the merged actors’ union, they’d likely seek to increase their voice by voting as a bloc (i.e., all in the same way) and voting very actively.   Doing so would give non-actors a power and influence much greater than their actual percentage of membership.  So it’s easy to imagine the outcome of a close (or even somewhat) vote being determined by non-actors.

The end result:  Actors would no longer be in sole control of deciding on the contracts which determine their salary, residuals, Pension & Health plans, etc., etc.

Please preserve the entire purpose of merging:  To strengthen actors’ voice and control.

All Actors in one union.

So if you’re a SAG member (or know one, then please tell them):