First, Saturday’s Plenary: You know that waiver, the one allowing those 2108 dues-tardy SAG members to run for the board? Well, it was never brought up. So, it looks like that each case will just have to be judged on its own merits.
Now, why didn’t the Ol’ Dog think of that? 
Oh, and contrary to the scheduled agenda, CEO Bob never showed! However, President Gilbert secure in the fact that her Restore Respect/USAN majority audience would be receptive, spent some time praising the ex-CEO.
Strangely, enough, Ms. Gilbert didn’t bring his name up at the National Membership Meeting. Perhaps that was because most of her address to those in attendance concerned her new reality show!
In a nutshell: No apology! It’s a union show and she has a mortgage to pay! Bottom Line she needs the dough! 
Oh, by the way, although the prez didn’t mention it. It’s an AFTRA show! And to be fair to her, apparently there will be union actors hired to do re-creations!
Of course, I don’t think that’s gonna mean a heck of a lot to the SAG membership as a whole--and new series regulars on scripted shows in particular! You know the ones that thanks to Ms. Gilbert now have to give up three of their residuals to stem the tide of shows like the one, ah, being done by our “mortgage-challenged” President.
The good news about the National Membership Meeting is that unlike the last Hollywood Membership Meeting at the same place--WE GOT WATER! Actually, to be fair, although we didn’t get water at the last meeting, we definitely got HOSED! 
You know, I gotta admit that the main reason I go to these things is because I like the open-mike sessions when members get up to ask questions. So, I will concentrate most of this post on that part of the meeting. But, before that “in a nutshell,” here’s what the podium speakers had to say!
SAG’s new NED: In a nutshell, the Ol’ Dog hopes that Greg ain’t a "babe in a nutshell" so to speak. 
He says his priority will be to listen to all 120,000 members. He’s even shaved his head to prove that he will be all-ears! He also says he hopes to be a Consensus maker! And will strive for honesty and transparency in our guild. Wants us to let-go of the past and look-forward, united. Both sides of SAG’s political spectrum should stop questioning “motives” and instead question “ideas.”
It was mostly feel good stuff. And to be honest, it, ah, made me feel good. The Ol’ Dog just hopes, he follows through with his proclaimed plans. Especially, the part about improving on the recent past-- by promoting honesty and transparency from our leadership and staff!
Other senior staff folks, talked about the need to preserve our rights by curtailing media consolidation, stop deficit spending, rebuild our treasury, enforce our contracts, fight fraud, gear up for upcoming collective bargaining agreements including basic cable, animation and interactive negotiations. (Oh, and we learned that Ira Shepard will no longer be the negotiator for the JPC) We also were informed that our health plan was stable—but not out of the woods. All in all, it was an informative presentation.
Well, the Ol’ Open Mike session finally got started with a member who wanted us to have optional photo ID’s to curtail over-zealous studio security guards hassling us. His motion passed without objection. Next, there was the S/AG/ man. He’s an elderly gentleman who wants us to take the “sag” out of the Screen Actors Guild. That is, in official statements, SAG spokespersons should refer to the guild as S-A-G rather than the verb “sag.” His motion pasted! Or perhaps, I should say it Stood Up.
And then there was the lady that wants us to contact Kodak to abstain from using gelatin made from cow brains to make flexible film, which can instead be done just as well with seaweed or tobacco leaves. Basically, she wants animal cruelty-free film. Hey, the Ol’ Dog can get behind that! Whoof! Whoof! Her motion bearly squeaked by with the audience’s seal of approval. 
Hey, how about a motion to lobby moviemakers to stop making movies where people act like cruel animals?
The next speaker was appreciative of all the residuals he received but wanted to know if something could be done to alleviate the cost to our union of processing all those pesky “3-cent” residuals. The bottom line, we were told is that it’s a tricky situation--but staff is working on it. In the meantime, I was wondering if I would need my ID to cash that “0” cents check I’ve been hanging onto.
Although the Ol’ Watchdog is purposely not mentioning the names of those members who got up to speak, I don’t think Marvin Kaplan, SAG/AFTRA member extraordinaire, would mind me mentioning that he received loud applause when he stepped to the Open-Mike and introduced himself. 
It was well deserved Mr. Kaplan.
His question concerned the last collective bargaining agreement. He wanted to know when was the earliest DVD’s could be addressed again. Answer: Contract expires June 30th 2008. Also, he wanted know about the 10 thousand dollars in residuals that each new series regular was giving up. Staffer, Sallie Weaver said she “strongly disputed the $10,000 dollar figure…(then bit her tongue, continuing)..ah, but those days were over.” Hmmm, me thinks that Mr. Hessinger has already had a little talk with senior staff. Goooood!
Following Mr. Kaplan a woman wanted to have a motion to rethink the new voucher system for background workers and to have any adopted plan go to referendum. The current plan was explained, including the clarification that non-union members although getting credit for work on signatory shows—do not get credit for working on non-signatory shows. The woman’s motion was approved.
The highlight of the meeting came when the young gentleman a few seats down from the Ol’ Dog got up to the mike and spoke. His words ignited those in attendance! He spoke about the method and inadequacies of the last contract: about the rollbacks, about how our own leadership was threatening us with a strike--while telling us that “keeping actors working would be better than getting what we deserved.”
He went on to say that he lost a lot during the strike but he was on the line because we couldn’t let them steal from us! Then added that leadership has “forgotten that our membership are people that are trying to make a living at what they love to do! Instead you, the leadership, threaten, us, the middle class actor with not working at all, and tap into the fear that we already have. And now when we do get work, we are not getting paid enough to support our families and cover our insurance."
Then staring directly at Melissa, James Cromwell and the rest of those on the dais, the young SAG member charged “You manipulated us into voting for this contract –and even with five months left--you didn’t try and make a better deal!
The young man may not have realized it but he eloquently expressed what most of the members at the meeting were feeling! And for doing that, he was rewarded with a one minute standing ovation! It was a tremendous explosion of applause. 
All the frustration of the last few years of wasted money and opportunities along with the erosion of our union rushed forward like a tsunami washing over those on the dais leaving them with overwhelmed wet looks on their faces. There were cries of ” run for the board, I’ll vote for you—and run for president!”
This was followed by a little back-and-forth between Melissa and the young man at the mike! But his point had been made, and there was no doubt how the crowd felt! Now I don’t know if Melissa, James or some of the others at the dais were really listening. My hope that our soon-to-be NED, Greg Hessinger, was all ears on this one!
The young man concluded with a question for President Gilbert “Why did you perpetuate fear in me that if I didn’t vote for this contract that I was going to be out of work and it was going to hurt me, big time—like I’m not fixing to get hurt enough from this contract!”
Melissa responded flatly, “The other option would be a strike!”
He responded that we still would have had five months! And that we could have come up with something better before the deadline!
And then the double whammy! The ultimate truth! He nailed it when he proclaimed,
“They didn’t think we would strike because you guys keep saying we wouldn’t! You guys gave up our leveraging tool. You gave it up early!”
Melissa’s final response was twofold, “ I can’t give you any other answer! And, I’ve answered your question!” Hmmm, well one out of two ain’t bad.
The next questioner wanted to know about Global Rule One and why it doesn’t apply to background actors! Good question! Unfortunately, there were no good answers from the podium. Not that it was necessarily their fault! Apparently, it has to do with collective bargaining, jurisdictions and a lot of other stuff.
The feeling from the table was that it is not necessarily one that LA background actors are concerned about! I would disagree! Anytime, a producer can shoot somewhere else-- and get a better deal, i.e., not having to pay union extras, isn’t that producer less likely to shoot here?
This was followed by a member asking for a motion for SAG to join other entertainment unions in supporting FTAC in their effort to stop Canada and other countries from breaking the trade agreements that they have already signed --by asking US Trade representatives to investigate the violation of unfair trade! 
The motion passed overwhelmingly except for ONE lone dissenting voice from the other side of the room! At first I thought perhaps a Canadian official had sneaked into the room, or a producer, however, I later found out that the guy was simply a disgruntled, craven, misanthropic member!
The next question was aimed at Gregg Hessinger. The questioner, who was against a merger with AFTRA because of the propensity of its members to work non-union, asked Mr. Hessinger for a direct Yes, or no answer. “Was he going to try and merge us with AFTRA?” Well, Mr. Hessinger would not be cornered into a “yes” or “no” response, but it was pretty obvious that he has some sort of “merger,” in mind when he responded that he believed that there was a way to get all actors under one roof where there is a broad based consensus on the plan. Let’s hope his amia on this one is better than ex-CEO Bob’s!
There were other open mike members to follow: one felt that Mr. Hessinger’s earlier comment about putting the past behind us was flawed, since learning from our past missteps with cable, DVD, etc was the best way to avoid such failures in the future. Also, her follow up question prompted a lengthy response about that ATA/NATR situation. (SAG has been without a franchise agreement with the ATA/NATR for the last three years.)
The speaker on the dais, Sallie Weaver, continued, that the agency issue is one we must tackle this year and it would take a tremendous effort on part of the leadership and the rank and file members of this union. She continued with the heart wrenching, “ There is nothing harder than saying to the person that’s been your partner in your career, no thank you, I’m standing with my union!”
“Huh? Excuse me,” the Ol’ Dog thought! Sure, it might be hard! In fact that’s why we have a union! So, we don’t have to say NO individually! All, we have to do is shrug and say “Sorry, union rules!”—and if our union is strong, that’s the end of the story!
But there are those in our union who have put many of us in the position where we are forced to do exactly that, and all they have done is tell us to get a lawyer. Of course, the Ol’ Dog is an extremely fast thinker, so after thinking all that pretty deep stuff, I still had time to growl “Point of Order!” 
Now, okay, I don’t know exactly what that means. But, this Ol’ Dog can still learn a new trick now and then. And, I had noticed when ever others had called that out, they got to throw in their two cents!
Once at the mike, I pointed out that “I had no decision to make! When I joined this union, I made my decision then. My decision was to stand by my union!”
Melissa interrupted, “ That’s not a point of order. That’s debate!”
Still quick on my paws, I responded, “Point of debate then!”
With a roar of laughter from the crowd, I wagged my sagging tail and reseated myself! I gotta learn that damn procedural jargon!
Here’s the point…of order, information or whatever you want to call it--when you join SAG according to Article III Sec. 2, you agree to comply with the “…Constitution and By-Laws, Rules and Regulations of the Guild…” This is for your benefit, because by doing so, you leave that heart-wrenching decision-making stuff in the hands of your union.
It’s the Ol’ Dog’s personal opinion that statements made by staff or leadership that tend to indicate that you are on your own in such matters-- are antithetical to union tenets and a tacit admission that we have a weak union. And its time our staff and leadership stop making them!
Oh, there was a motion passed that SAG returns to having a cashier at 5757 Wilshire to assist members. Hopefully, the board don’t dump this one, like they do so many of these motions passed at membership meetings!
And finally, the most popular motion was the one that we get paid for auditions! Right on! And while we’re at it, how’s about we get paid for the auditions we don’t get?
Hey, Melissa get us that-- and you can do all the Reality Shows you want.
Well, it’s getting late, and the Ol’ Dog is starting to get the Olive Urge! 
Cheers! 
A.L. Miller SW Editor & Chief
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