SAG E-mail from David White sent to board members
March 13, 2009 by Lance Carter
SAG is watching the board members. Be afraid. Stay in the shadows.
To members of the National Board of Directors, Division Boards of Directors, Branch Councils, National Committees, alternates to these bodies, and staff:
On January 25, 2009, an advisory was distributed to you regarding the agreement reached between SAG and AFTRA for joint negotiation of the Commercials Contracts. The agreement had been authorized by both National Boards and was the result of months of detailed work designed to effectuate the continuation of joint bargaining. The agreement provides for the prohibition of disparagement of either union and of our staff or elected. I am attaching another copy of that advisory for your reference.
Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that, in recent days, several individuals covered by the terms of this agreement have made public statements, including those that can be found on the internet, that raise concerns with respect to prohibited disparagement of AFTRA.
I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone receiving this message that each of us is subject to the terms of the agreement and must not engage in making any public statements that are disparaging toward AFTRA, its staff or elected leadership. This prohibition applies regardless of the form of the statement (e.g. written, oral, or electronic, including videos), and includes, we should assume, the act of forwarding someone else’s email.
Obviously, many AFTRA members, including elected and appointed member leaders, also hold positions of leadership in SAG. While it is permissible for AFTRA members who are also SAG leaders to write directly to the AFTRA President and Vice-President(s), and/or to the AFTRA Board in protest of certain behavior or courses of action, it is critical that those communications be private communications to the intended recipients and not for the public or mass e-mails. In other words, AFTRA members of course have the right to communicate directly with their AFTRA elected representatives, just as SAG members have the right to communicate displeasure about something SAG may have done directly to SAG elected leadership, but if you hold elected or appointed office in either union, those communications should be directed to the parties concerned and not disseminated to the general public, the media, blogs, or personal e-mail lists of other members.
The terms of the joint bargaining agreement provide for financial and other potentially severe penalties to be imposed against either union if their covered leadership engages in violations of this agreement. It is critical, therefore, that we each take our responsibility to abide by this agreement seriously to avoid causing harm to the Guild. Please use your best judgment in determining whether any communication that you may contemplate issuing contains statements that are problematic in light of this agreement.
If you have any questions or concerns about this agreement, its terms or its implementation, please contact either me or Duncan Crabtree-Ireland for further assistance.
In unity,
David P. White
Interim National Executive Director
Tom Gridley on Tue, 2nd Jun 2009 4:22 am
Here are some facts that the slight majority of our
National Board has neglected to tell you.
Main changes if this contract is voted up;
1. Loss of Residuals -
At the day-player scale rate, every actor will lose
$2,000.00 for each day they work. They will also, lose
14.8% for pension & health($296.00) It will be replaced
with $22.77($3.33 for pension and health) for 6 months of
streaming on the net. Although this will be bad for each
actor on an individual level, can you imagine how fast our
pension and health fund will dry up? They are going to show
all re-runs on the internet. No more re-runs on TV. There
is a lot of room to negotiate between $2,000.00 and $22.77
and many of us feel that they can go back to the table and
do a better job!
2. Non-Union work in Original Made for New Media Productions -
Unless the budget is $25,000.00/minute or more(average thus
far is $2500.00), the producers will use 32 pages of our
contract full of exclusions and requirements to decide who
is a “Qualified Performer”. And then, they can produce with
only that one SAG cast member and the rest of the cast can
be all Non-Union yet they will want us to call it a SAG
Production! If voted up, this trend can easily spread to TV
and Film.
3. Clip Consent -
Since 1960, we have had Clip Consent. If a producer wants
to use one of your clips in a movie, tv show, documentary,
on the internet, etc., they must first get your permission,
and then negotiate a price for the use. If this contract is
voted up, the producers can use your clips ‘intact’ in any
project they choose(what if the project involves subject
matter that you are opposed to?). With the current state of
Computer Generated Images, they can also take you out of
context and have you doing things you would never have
consented to do in the first place. They will be able to do
all of this without your consent, and without paying you.
4. Product Integration -
We all know about Product Placement, but if this contract
passes, we will all become commercial spokespeople for the
particular products in the tv show or film. If the product
is Coke, and you are already a Pepsi spokesperson, make a
choice. You will lose either your Pepsi sponsorship, or that
roll. You will not be payed for the endorsement of the
product. You will not receive residuals when they use the
Clip Consent Clause and take your product endorsement out
of the project and use it separately as a commercial. And,
finally, the pool of regular separate commercials necessary
to sell products will become smaller because many of us will
be doing commercials and promoting products as part of our
artistic expression in a given scene in any given project.
5. Force Majeure -
Since 1937, this is what protects you once you have been
booked and you spend many hours learning your part and
getting into character, and also turning down other
lucrative work because you are already booked. If they
book you, and production is halted do to a strike, or an
act of God, or any other reason, they must pay you five
weeks at half your rate. As of right now, the producers
owe SAG Actors at least $60,000,000.00 and as much as
$400,000,000.00 for last years strike. If this contract
is voted up, the producers will have to pay only
$20,000,000.00 total, and each member will have to
bargain individually for Force Majeure protection. The
obvious strength in numbers of the collective bargaining
of SAG will no longer provide Force Majeure protection.
If you are not an ‘A’ list actor, good luck!
http://www.myspace.com/sagstars