Ken Howard's tossed his hat in the ring for president of the Screen Actors Guild as head of the Unite for Strength ticket, with the self-styled moderates aiming to strengthen their hold on SAG's national board.
Screen Actors Guild Members Overwhelmingly Ratify TV/Theatrical Agreements
SAG - Los Angeles, (June 9, 2009)
Screen Actors Guild announced today that members have voted overwhelmingly to approve its TV/Theatrical contracts by a vote of 78 percent to 22 percent.
The two-year successor agreement covers film and digital television programs, motion pictures and new media productions. The pact becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. June 10, 2009 and expires June 30, 2011.
The contracts provide more than $105 million in wages, increased pension contributions, and other gains and establishes a template for SAG coverage of new media formats.
Approximately 110,000 SAG members received ballots of which 35.26 percent returned them – a return that is above average compared with typical referenda on Screen Actors Guild contracts. Integrity Voting Systems of Everett, WA, provided election services and tonight certified the final vote tally upon completion of the tabulation.
The vote count in the Hollywood Division was 70.70 percent to 29.30 percent in favor. In the New York Division, the vote count was 85.74 percent to 14.26 percent in favor. And in the Regional Branch Division, the vote count was 89.06 percent to 10.94 percent in favor.
Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg said, "The membership has spoken and has decided to work under the terms of this contract that many of us, who have been involved in these negotiations from the beginning, believe to be devastatingly unsatisfactory. Tomorrow morning I will be contacting the elected leadership of the other talent unions with the hope of beginning a series of pre-negotiation summit meetings in preparation for 2011. I call upon all SAG members to begin to ready themselves for the battle ahead,” Rosenberg added.
Screen Actors Guild Interim National Executive Director David White said, “This decisive vote gets our members back to work with immediate pay raises and puts SAG in a strong position for the future. Preparation for the next round of negotiations begins now. Our members can expect more positive changes in the coming months as we organize new work opportunities, repair and reinvigorate our relationships with our sister unions and industry partners, and continue to improve the Guild’s operations.”
Screen Actors Guild Chief Negotiator John McGuire said, "I want to thank the SAG members and staff who dedicated their time to the negotiations process. We emerged with a solid deal that the members have now voted up. The negotiating team worked tirelessly, building on the work of the first negotiating committee, to deliver these improvements to members.”
Screen Actors Guild began talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on April 15, 2008. Guild Chief Negotiator John McGuire, Interim National Executive Director David White, and Deputy National Executive Director for Contracts Ray Rodriguez, working with a 10-person negotiating task force comprised of Screen Actors Guild board members and officers representing the three divisions, reached the tentative agreement on April 16, 2009 after 12 months of periodic negotiations with the motion picture studios and television networks.
For further information on the new contract, including the full text and a summary of the agreement, click here.
ACTORS RESPOND TO CONTRACT RATIFICATION
Tony Shalhoub, actor
“This is a great decision for SAG and I’m so appreciative of everything the new leadership is doing to put the Guild back on track. They’ve obviously got the right ideas for making SAG stronger.”
Stephen Collins, actor
"This contract passed because members knew it was time to take advantage of the gains our negotiators won and get back to work. On top of that, they understood that risking our ability to negotiate alongside AFTRA and the other unions in the 2011 negotiations would have been a huge mistake. It's a great day for SAG."
Sam Freed, actor, 2nd National Vice President
“This decision by the membership marks the end of a very long process. We can now move forward with a new sense of certainty.”
Sue-Anne Morrow, actor, National Board Member representing New York
"This is a good deal with good gains. SAG's members clearly agree. It's about time we got a raise. I'm so pleased that SAG's members exercised their right to be heard and said 'Yes!'."
Mike Hodge, actor, National Board Member representing New York
“I am extremely pleased that we have finally come to the close of a long, unproductive period. I am hopeful that we can heal our wounds and really start the work to become a unified, national union.”
Nancy Duerr, actor, National Board Member representing SAG Florida Branch
"This is a victory for SAG performers across our region. Stalled and delayed productions can now get underway, boosting our local economies. This contract not only puts more money in members' pockets, it preserves the high standards of working conditions our members have come to expect."
Todd Hissong, actor, Chicago Branch President, National Board Member
"By passing this referendum, Chicago members have sent a clear message that we want to get back to work. Screen Actors Guild members across the country have yet again demonstrated our grasp of the issues, the importance of unionism, and our need to stand together with our sister unions to make deals that benefit us all.”
David Hartley-Margolin, Colorado actor, SAG 3rd Vice President
“The membership always has the last word when it comes to contract matters. They have spoken. Their endorsement of the deal with the AMPTP ends the uncertainty that has been hovering over us and allows Screen Actors Guild and the industry to move forward together.”
Tom Hanks helps jump-start back-channel actor contract talks
Source: LA Times, Mar 11 2009
With a the help of Tom Hanks and some other A-list actors, representatives of the Screen Actors Guild and the studios are quietly taking another whack and trying to work out their differences.
Can stars break SAG stalemate? - Guild, AFTRA ad talks will resume
Source: Variety March 15, 2009
Despite recent nudges by Tom Hanks and other high-profile thesps, SAG and the congloms have stayed silent about their long-stalled film-TV negotiations.
SAG eyes commercial contracts: Four weeks slated for ad industry negotiations
Source: Variety February 23, 2009
With SAG's feature-primetime contract at its usual stalemate, the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA have launched what's expected to be a month of negotiations with the ad industry over the commercials contract.
Talks began Monday morning at the Crowne Plaza in New York, with both sides presenting their opening statements amid a news blackout.
SAG, studios: both must bend
Source: LATimes January 29, 2009
Hollywood 's studios should respond to the union's shift in leadership with a move to the middle.
Change at Union May Re-energize Hollywood Talks
Source: New York Times
WHERE does the Screen Actors Guild go from here?
Hollywood tried to get its head around that question on Tuesday after the firing of Doug Allen, the guild’s executive director and chief architect of its hard-line approach to labor negotiations.
SAG Email Imbroglio
Source: Jonathan Handel / Huffington Post
Yesterday was a tale of two emails at SAG -- one constructive, the other not so much.
Doug Allen steps down from SAG-
Move follows brutal battle over negotiations
Source: Variety
Doug Allen is stepping down as national executive director and chief negotiator of the Screen Actors Guild following a brutal internal battle over how he’s handled SAG’s long-stalled negotiations.
SAG faction takes fresh shot at Allen
Source: LA Times
The board majority of the Screen Actors Guild today stepped up its efforts to oust the union's executive director, making its case directly to members.
Inside the SAG Boardroom
Source: Jonathan Handel / Huffington Post
Sources from inside SAG's marathon board meeting blasted Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg as a "corrupt and dirty chair," asserting that he and his Membership First allies repeatedly abused parliamentary rules throughout the "surreal" 28-hour national board meeting earlier this week in order to suppress the SAG board's moderate majority.
SAG Board Spurns Allen
Source: LA Times
Some call it a Hail Mary pass.
Beleaguered Screen Actors Guild Executive Director Doug Allen, who barely survived an effort to oust him from his job at a marathon board meeting this week, is now attempting to make nice with his critics on the board in an apparent last-ditch effort to keep his job.
SAG seeking more talks Allen proposes vote on AMPTP's offer
Source: Variety
Amidst a brutal internal war, leaders of the Screen Actors Guild have put their divisive strike authorization on hold until at least next week so they can explore making a run at a last-ditch round of negotiations with the congloms.
PRESS ARCHIVES
SAG, majors to meet face-to-face Thursday
Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
After five months of no talks between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, the two sides will meet face-to-face with a federal mediator on Thursday at the majors headquarters...
SAG, studios get ready to talk
Source: www.variety.com
The sides are poised to get back to the bargaining table soon — but the more important question is whether SAG or the majors are inclined to budge enough to reach a deal.
Guild, AMPTP negotiations still up in the air
Source: www.variety.com
SAG’s taken another small step toward possible resumption of its long-stalled negotiations, agreeing to meet for a second session with a federal mediator on Wednesday.
NYTimes.com: Web Site's Formula for Success: TV Content With Fewer
Ads
Source: www.NYTimes.com
Advertising: Web Site's Formula for Success: TV Content With Fewer Ads
The online video Web site Hulu distinguishes itself with a memorable advertising experience, with fewer ads and more control over them for the viewer.
"Dissidents win 6 seats on Screen Actors Guild Board"
Source: www.latimes.com
"With the backing of moderates, the dissidents, backed by Tom Hanks and Sally Field, now control a majority of votes on the national board. That could jump-start stalled contract talks with studios."
UFS Candidate Ned Vaughn Debates Alan Rosenberg on KPCC 89.3
Los Angeles, July 25th, 2008
Unite For Strength Press Release
Los Angeles, July 23rd, 2008
Alarmed by Growing Divisiveness, SAG Board Candidates Seek Leadership Change - Amy Brenneman, Kate Walsh, Adam Arkin and 28 others to run on “Unite for Strength” slate.
Aiming to put the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) on a path toward greater unity with sister union the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), a group of 31 actors announced today that they will run in upcoming elections for seats on the SAG Board of Directors. Organized under the banner “Unite for Strength,” the group is seeking to win a majority of the national board seats allotted to Hollywood branch members.
If successful, Unite for Strength would end control of the board by the “Membership First” faction, which has long maintained a hostile stance toward AFTRA. “With the immense challenges actors face today, we need all the strength we can muster. And that means electing union leadership that is committed to uniting actors to fight for our common future,” said Ned Vaughn, a leader of the group. “We can no longer afford leaders who sow division.”
“As our current predicament makes clear, actors lose out when we face off as separate, warring camps against the media conglomerates in contract negotiations,” said Adam Arkin. “I’m concerned for future negotiations if we don’t change the leadership that has brought us to this point.”
In announcing their campaign, Unite for Strength faulted current and past board members associated with Membership First for stoking the debilitating hostility between SAG and AFTRA by:
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Threatening to terminate joint negotiation of the TV/Theatrical contract. (They later rescinded a planned referendum after a storm of internal criticism that doing so would weaken SAG at the bargaining table.)
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Waging a campaign of threats and insults against AFTRA. This included one Membership First-affiliated board member calling AFTRA “a scumbag union.”
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Waging a senseless, futile (and costly) campaign to defeat the contract AFTRA negotiated with the AMPTP.
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Scuttling two separate attempts (1998 & 2003) to strengthen actors’ long-term position at the bargaining table by merging SAG and AFTRA.
“If we’re elected, we’ll end the senseless war against AFTRA and work to create a united front of actors to fight for more working opportunities and better jobs. We believe that will ultimately require merging the two unions, and that’s a goal we’re all pledged to pursue,” said Vaughn.
Election Challenge Arises to SAG Leadership
July 23, 2008, Los Angeles Times, Richard Verrier
"A dissident coalition says the faction that currently holds a slim majority on the board of the Screen Actors Guild has bungled current contract negotiations with the studios." [Full Article]
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