SAG Walkout - Seeking Strike Authorization

[admin]

Alan Rosenberg, President of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), stated today that he is seeking to get strike authorization for the union. What this means is that he and the union are putting up a vote to the members to vote on the authorization to strike. This is an ongoing labor battle that is drawing many people's memories back to this year's earlier WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike which canceled such shows as 24. Talks and mediation broke off this week, prompting SAG to seek the strike authorization vote.

Discuss "SAG Walkout - Seeking Strike Authorization" here. Read the article.

 

[Austin M]

Oh yay. Let's see if they can torpedo some more shows I like. Oh, and remove some more money from the economy for good measure.

 

[jamie2112]

I am over it these people make wayyy to much money and they want more. Whats next a government handout for SAG....

 

[Audioholics]

I think the real thing that gets me is that the people that benefit from most of these strikes are the top eschelon who care about residuals and online business moidels, etc. The rank and file will inevitably lose WAY more money from a strike than they will ever hope to gain in the long term.

Every time this comes up I can't help but think that the union is stepping all over the industry at the behest of some top-level actors who want a better contract.

This will probably NOT end with a strike as I don't think the rank and file will let it. The WGA strike is too fresh and people are hurting too much to deal with this type of ridiculous posturing.

If they arent careful, the AMPTP is going to call their bluff (which it is) and turn the screws even tighter on them.

 

[Highbar]

Couldn't agree more with Jamie.. This is pure BS on the side of people that already make way toooo much. If the actors strike the only thing it's going to do is destroy the few good shows that remain on tv for the money that goes in to the pockets of those that are already over paid. They need to realize that making 6 figures plus, close to 7, isn't average for the country and OPEN their damn eyes. MONEY isn't everything and we all work for what we make.

 

[lburguiere]

For some reason I thought it was the Film Actors Guild. Hmmm I wonder why I thought that........

 

[fmw]

Timing is everything! Idiots!

 

[mikeboy]

Europeans plight affects SAG situation

You ought to look at the following short video produced in Cologne, Germany by TV Star Andreas Stenschke. It points to what is at stake for writers, actors and directors regarding the potential loss of income when reruns of TV shows and movies go to the Internet rather than on cable and broadcast TV, where they currently show. It is particularly relevant as the Writers Guild is now in a battle with the AMPTP over their reneging of the Internet residual formula agreed to at the end of the strike in February. Link to the video is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PPZV3dTzbg

The Europeans' (and other international artists) situation is absurd and the AMPTP producers and networks would like nothing more than to remake that as their modus operandi on our shores as well.

 

[fmw]

You ought to look at the following short video produced in Cologne, Germany by TV Star Andreas Stenschke. It points to what is at stake for writers, actors .....

And you ought to look at what the current financial mess has done to workers through layoffs, investors through the loss of stock value, taxpayers through the idiotic spending of the Congress, business owners for the loss of business and on and on and on. Sorry. Movie making is not a critical industry. I'll put them near the bottom of my worry list except insofar as they are employees, investors, taxpayers etc. in which case they face what the rest of us face. It is a big huge yawn for me.

 

[mikeboy]

But everything SAG and, for that matter, the WGA has asked for is based on the profits that the studios and networks receive. They're not trying to ruin the business. They just want a fair percentage of the profits in line with what they continue to get for reruns on Broadcast.

We trusted them when cable was in its infancy in the early 80's and gave them an extremely low rate to help them get started. Within ten years, the studios started syndicating their shows on cable networks like USA and Lifetime, as opposed to the traditional local broadcast channels, and residuals went from four figures to two figures or low three figures, even as the ad rates for those once small cable networks were mushrooming upward.

We let it go too long, and then it was too late to do anything about it. The train was already down the track. With the advent of the Internet and the realization that TV will eventually be watched via Internet connection and not via cable or satellite, we wanted to be assured that our future earnings were not going to be decimated simply because the studios and networks could say, "Well, we don't have to pay you anything, because we are using a new technology to deliver the programming," even though people will still be watching it on their home TVs in an equal or similar manner.

Simply put, they want to end residuals permanently and reduce the "floor" for payment in future years. If anyone's interested, here is a Huffington Post article I wrote that explains it more fully:

www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-russnow/the-wga-strike-for-dummie_b_83253.html

 

[BMXTRIX]

I don't give a darn whether or not all TV shows or movies are cancelled or not.

People who work for a living deserved to be paid for a living and as is ALWAYS the case in corporations, they are looking for the best way to screw over whoever they heck they want to to get the most profits for the company, which fattens their wallets above all else.

If 'the man' has a new way to make money which takes that out of the pockets of the people who actually did the work, they are, very predictably, going to exploit it for their own greedy desires first and foremost, while endeavoring to ensure that those entitled to any royalties are prevented from getting them... through whatever means is necessary.

Frankly, I think that before any show, movie, etc. is even possible for release in any new emerging format (Internet, discs, cable, satellite, phone, etc.) that first a deal needs to be put in writing as to how compensation will be given.

Do some people make 'to much' money? Yes, absolutely! But, I don't think it is the people who are going on strike. It is the people in the corporate office who have always made to much money who just are demanding more. Ef' them! Get the money distributed among all of those who deserve to benefit, and the fact that TV seasons get shut down completely is a reminder that those people really are the ones responsible for getting those paychecks into the head honchos wallets.

Some who don't deserve it, obviously will benefit... count on it. But, not the average employee who just wants to get their piece of the pie - which they sure as heck helped to make.