Re: Actors on strike!

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: : : As this is Labor Day weekend, I take the liberty of alerting my newfound compatriots of a hot issue among actors and their unions, SAG and AFTRA.  

: : : The unions have been on strike for four months against ad agencies that are trying to change the fair-pay system, eliminate residuals, and reduce actors' wages to unlivable levels.  Although the working-class "scale" actors are the ones most affected, numerous celebs have rallied to the cause and can be seen on picket lines across the nation.  Many wear gold ribbons in support, and have promised to wear them on the Emmys telecast and to mention the strike issues in their acceptance speeches.  David Hyde Pierce, for example, has been very active. Read a recent interview: http://www.sag.org/strike/hero082500.html

: : : I don't want to tell the whole story here, but please take a look at www.sag.org for the facts.  I feel that the warm-hearted folks on this loop will be sympathetic. 

: : : Part-time actor and acting coach,
: : : Linda Karam

: : Hi, Linda!  Thanks for the link...will be headed there shortly.  I have been keeping up with this issue, a bit, for some time.  And I have a STRONG partiality for David Hyde Pierce and his causes, anyway, so I'll be quite interested in what he has to say.  And I think it's a good idea for the bigger name stars to back this cause, not only because it's a worthy one, but because it could impact THEM at some point.  (Many of them won't remain on top forever, after all.)  I've been reading in particular about the actors in commercials and advertisements.  It seems they will be greatly affected by the outcome of all this.

: : MMMMarcia

: Thanks Marcia!  Good news -- an article I wrote about the actors strike has been accepted by the magazine American Writer, a publication of the National Writers Union.  Negotiations resume in mid-September.

: It's Machiavellianism at work as the advertising agencies who represent industry (AT&T, Staples, etc.) claim that actor's wages overburden their ad budgets.  Such disinformation! In fact, actors account for less than 1% of the production/ broadcast budget associated with commercials.  It's an era of union-busting in the US of A.  

: But some firms ARE signing our interim contracts, or otherwise honoring our strike.  Ford Motor Co. for example says it will not use non-union actors.  So I noticed that their most recent TV ad uses one of their Australian execs !!

: Big celebs have been very helpful: Martin Sheen, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, so many others.  They support a fund to finance striking actors, they're forming a committee to visit industry leaders, etc.  Just great!

: LSK


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