* AFTRA election returns and Analysis !! *alert So, Who got to Unite For Strength leader Ned Vaughn’s and his pals to get them to change their tune on the TV/Theatrical rollback contract ??

So, Who got to Unite For Strength leader Ned Vaughn’s and his pals to get them to change their tune on the TV/Theatrical rollback contract?

First let’s look at Ned Vaughn ‘Unite For Strength’ leader as he extols the virtues of the ‘worst contract in SAG’s history’ as he tries to dupe members in an attempt to get them to vote for it.

Now let’s look at what Ned and his UFS pals said before they got into power, and were trying to hoodwink SAG’s Membership into to voting for them.

"United for Strength fully supports the recent SAG board motion reasserting SAG's commitment to the core principle that it does not authorize our employers to make nonunion product under our contracts, regardless of the medium or budget level," the group said Tuesday. "We believe SAG needs new leadership, but we also agree with SAG's negotiators that actors need real gains from a new contract."
Unite for Strength also said in the statement that it agrees that the original goals of SAG's negotiating committee -- including pay and mileage increases, increased pension and health contributions, residuals on new media, protection from product integration abuses, increased DVD residuals and preservation of force majeure protections.
"Unite for Strength believes actors should have all those protections and more," the group said. "We support our families with SAG earnings, so getting the strongest deal for actors is our top priority. And we know our current negotiating team feels the same way."

So, what happened between now and then, to get them to change their minds? What were they promised by the AMPTP—or AFTRA? Or have they just changed their minds for political power.

What ever it is, you can bet they don’t have the membership’s best interest in mind. At least not the SAG membership’s best interest!

Election Results for Los Angeles Officers, Los Angeles and National Board Members, and Convention Delegates

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 3, 2009)---The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced today election results for the AFTRA Los Angeles Local.

Actor Ron Morgan was re-elected President of AFTRA Los Angeles and will begin his new two-year term as Local President on July 1; he ran unopposed in his bid for reelection. Mr. Morgan was also elected to the AFTRA National Board of Directors for a four-year term; he also serves as a National Vice President of the union.

Also uncontested in their reelection for two-year terms as officers for AFTRA Los Angeles were First Vice President Susan Boyd Joyce, a singer; actor Gabrielle Carteris, Second Vice President; Third Vice President Bobbie Bates, a dancer; Fourth VP Jason George, an actor; Recording Secretary Patrika Darbo, an actor; and actor Jay Gerber continues as Treasurer.

Reelected to three-year terms on the Los Angeles Local Board of Directors were actors David Bowe, Raza Burgee, Andrew Caple-Shaw, Gabrielle Carteris, Bob Joles, Kate Linder, and Paul Napier; announcer Mike Sakellarides; dancer Galen Hooks; broadcaster Pepe Barreto; and singers Susan Boyd Joyce and Dick Wells. Incoming Los Angeles Local Board members include actors David Andriole, Mimi Cozzens, David Jolliffe, Marcia Strassman; and announcer Chuck Southcott.

AFTRA National Board members from the Los Angeles Local reelected to four-year terms include actors Gabrielle Carteris, Jay Gerber, Ron Morgan, and Paul Petersen; dancer Bobbie Bates; and singers Susan Boyd Joyce and Sally Stevens. Newly-elected to the AFTRA National Board are actors Anne-Marie Johnson, D. W. Moffett, Jason Priestley, and Alan Ruck.

One-hundred-and-ninety-eight (198) Los Angeles Delegates to AFTRA's 62nd National Convention were also elected. The National Convention will be held August 6 - 8 in Chicago, Illinois.

There are 73 seats total on the new AFTRA National Board, which will be officially seated following AFTRA's National Convention on August 9 in Chicago, Illinois. The AFTRA Los Angeles Local will be assigned 26 seats on the new National Board; 13 were up for election, 11 were open seats and two seats were assigned to the Announcer category and the Newsperson category, respectively.

All AFTRA Los Angeles Local officer and board terms begin July 1. The AFTRA National Board terms begin at the conclusion of this summer's National Convention.

Looking at the results a couple of questions come to mind. Why no numbers on how many votes each candidate got? (Standard practice in SAG elections) Also, why no returns on the delegate race?

Surely if they were important enough to vote on they are important enough to report to the membership.

Interestingly, only two so-called Membership First candidates ran for the local board and both won. But then that doesn’t tell us a lot about any political trends, unless we can see the individual numbers.

In the race for the National board the Membership First slate ran seven candidates and the AFTRA Leadership Team ran twelve. In that race two out of the seven were elected but then since no numbers have been announced in relation to the candidates you can’t read a lot into the outcome. Apparently, one of the seven failed to get elected by 14 votes.

Hopefully, AFTRA will release all the information including vote tallies and delegate returns soon. If not a quick call to the DOL should take care of that.

*A bit of irony in the election. It seems that, with one exception, every Membership First candidate (Anne-Marie Johnson, David Jolliffe, Paul Napier and Alan Ruck) that the AFTRA Leadership Team chose to parody in their Wilshire Blvd. flier was elected.