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'Bold and Beautiful' tiff takes ugly turn
'The Bold and the Beautiful' union tiff is getting ugly
By Claudia Eller and Richard Verrier, Los Angeles
Times Staff Writers
March 29, 2008
Just as the Screen Actors Guild and its smaller sister union American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are jointly preparing to face off against the studios in upcoming contract negotiations, the two actors groups are embroiled in a behind-the-scenes soap opera -- over a soap opera.
The latest episode in the long-standing turf wars between SAG and AFTRA erupted among the cast of the classic CBS daytime drama "The Bold and the Beautiful."
For more than 50 years, AFTRA has negotiated contracts for daytime soaps. But AFTRA accuses the leadership of SAG of encroaching on its territory in an attempt to gain jurisdiction of the show. They view it as an effort by SAG to increase its power.
This claim from AFTRA’s leadership that SAG is encroaching on AFTRA’s territory is a tad disingenuous, coming, as it is, from the leadership that poached all but one of SAG’s basic cable half-hour shows by offering inferior minimums and residual giveaways. It was only a couple of years ago that SAG had all of these shows but one. They were under SAG contracts, with NO residual giveaways. Now the AFTRA Lowballer’s have 13 out of the 14 half-hour shows, along with NINE of the one-hour shows. Every contract that the Watchdog has been able to attain includes residual giveaways including those of Nickelodeon, Disney, Lifetime, FX and other big cable companies.
"This is an ongoing campaign by the Screen Actors Guild since last year to discredit AFTRA," said Roberta Reardon, president of AFTRA. "It's very clear they've tried to take this union apart."
Next thing you know, Roberta will accuse SAG of being responsible for the NBC reporters decertifying from AFTRA, and high profile members like AFTRA's Larry King and others working non-union at CNN, Fox news and CNBC. Au Contraire, It’s AFTRA’s unscrupulous, predatory actions against actors, inferior contracts, and its failure to enforce rule one against broadcasters that is tearing it apart.
Doug Allen, national executive director of SAG, rejects AFTRA's claims and says his union has no designs on organizing daytime dramas. "We're not raiding AFTRA, and the suggestion we are is inaccurate," he said.
The flare-up around "Bold and Beautiful" comes at a delicate time for both unions. Today, the joint board of AFTRA and SAG is meeting to approve the bargaining proposals that will be presented to the studios in their upcoming negotiations. The unions are expected to seek, among other things, higher pay for their members in the area of new media. If all goes well, the unions are likely to begin talks with the studios by mid-April.
But SAG and AFTRA, which historically have had an uneasy alliance, have been feuding for the last year over the terms of their 27-year joint bargaining pact and other issues.
SAG has been looking to change the terms of the partnership. The bigger union, which has 120,000 members compared with AFTRA'S 70,000, objects to equal voting rights in the agreement even though SAG actors account for most of the earnings.
AFTRA has only three shows, but gets a 50/50 say in the negotiations. And, as in recent Negotiations, AFTRA’s 13 negotiators vote as a block, and their USAN/SAG Operatives in NY and branch negotiators vote in lockstep with them. Thus, the likely scenario will be the following. AFTRA will control the negotiations with their 13 votes along with SAG NY and the Branches 4 votes. This because, SAG Hollywood will have only 9 votes. This ratio of votes virtually guarantees AFTRA a 17 to 9 edge in any decision making from DVDs to new media. Bottom line: The union with only 3 shows out of the hundreds being negotiated, the union that has shown a willingness, if not eagerness, to sellout actors to gain jurisdiction, will control the future of actors in regards to their livelihood in the upcoming negotiations with the AMPTP.
The Hatfields and McCoys-like sniping got so out of hand that John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, met with leaders of both guilds and urged them to resolve their differences before starting negotiations with the studios. The AFL-CIO, to which both SAG and AFTRA belong, bars unions from raiding each other.
Now that’s is the silliest thing I have ever heard. Just as he is doing now, when SAG went to the AFL-CIO to stop AFTRA’s poaching of SAG’s basic cable shows John Sweeney told the unions to work it out among themselves. Thus, allowing the AFL-CIO’s new direct charter member AFTRA to continue its wanton raiding. Why SAG remains with, and continues to shovel hundreds of thousands of our dues money to this organization, which obviously backs AFTRA, and its compliant giveaway policy, is a question SAG’s leadership needs to answer--and soon.
The latest skirmish is now occurring on the set of "The Bold and the Beautiful," the second-highest-rated daytime drama. AFTRA officials are furious that Allen and SAG President Alan Rosenberg held a private meeting with two actors from the show at which the cast members complained bitterly about AFTRA representation.
After the actors aired their grievances, Allen said, he advised them "to go to AFTRA and have those conversations with them."
AFTRA officials were upset at SAG for not telling them about the meeting until two weeks after the fact, according to Reardon.
This, once again, comes from AFTRA leadership that, not only, continues to poach SAG shows by undercutting them with cut-rate contracts , but then refuses to let SAG even see them.
Allen dismissed the concern, saying "I don't know why SAG is being held accountable for complaints by AFTRA members about AFTRA."
The early March meeting was requested by the "Bold" actors, including Susan Flannery, who plays the matriarch of the fashion dynasty at the center of the show. Flannery, a regular on "Bold" since its inception in 1987, is leading an effort to decertify AFTRA as the union representing the actors on the series by circulating a petition, AFTRA officials said.
The petition would have to be submitted to the National Labor Relations Board, which would hold a secret ballot if it were signed by at least 30% of the employees.
Flannery and other cast members believe they would earn better pay and benefits under SAG. Flannery, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.
That doesn't sit well with some high-profile AFTRA members, who say the show would be weakened if it came under another union's jurisdiction.
"If they raided this show and other shows it would be a disaster," said veteran soap star Don Hastings, who plays Dr. Bob Hughes on "As the World Turns." He said SAG has no experience negotiating daytime contracts, which would put the show in jeopardy at a time when audiences for soaps are declining and the networks are cutting budgets.
I love how these folks mischaracterize the situation: There is no raiding by SAG going on here. SAG didn’t go to these actors with bogus promises, or their shows producers with lowball contracts, but rather it was the actors themselves who want to decertify--much like the reporters at NBC who left AFTRA. The difference being, that they don’t want to go non-union. They want to join the ACTORS’ union SAG. The union that traditionally secures better wages, residuals and P&H for its members. It is my firm belief that if any of our SAG leadership does anything less than welcome these brave individuals with open arms, they will have betrayed all actors who want fair pay and decent working conditions. Hmmm, I wonder how Don Hastings would feel about the move to SAG if he worked for the AFTRA under five rate of $341 bucks.
Both Reardon and Allen say they agree on one thing: Their unions need to be well prepared to jointly negotiate a new contract with the studios. But Reardon says SAG's actions do not always suggest unanimity. "How can we be expected to sit side-by-side in a joint negotiation with a union that is actively raiding us?"
She says this while, under her leadership, AFTRA continues to raid SAG shows. SAG hasn’t offered "he Bold and Beautiful" producers giveaways to join SAG, like, for instance, AFTRA did for the producers of the SAG show “That’s So Raven,” to take their spin-off "Corey in the House" to AFTRA.
Allen says AFTRA's concerns are unfounded. The two unions, he said, just completed two days of "productive and successful" meetings to finalize their joint proposals.
"It was an example of union solidarity."
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A.L. Miller SW Editor & Chief
www.sagwatchdog.com
So, what is going to happen? It is the Ol’ Dog’s considered opinion that AFTRA’s leadership will once again threaten to end Phase One, if SAG allows the cast of “The Bold and the Beautiful” to determine their own destiny and join SAG.
It is, also, my opinion that SAG’s Leadership will once again be intimidated by AFTRA’s Bluffing and back down, leaving these brave actors at the mercy of a union that has already kicked out one actor that dared to, even, talk desertification.
No, I don’t think it will happen in this case. The Bullies at AFTRA had no problem kicking out a lone member who on her own took on AFTRA. But you can damn well know that they will back down to the cast of this hit show that wants to decertify.
If SAG turns its back on these actors when they reach out to SAG for help, the message to SAG members will be that SAG will not stand behind you, if you dare take on those who have been successful in intimating them. If they refuse to help these actors, who have come to SAG and they are rejected, it will, most likely, be the last time actors put their fate in SAG’s hands.
SAG's position should be this. It will not turn its back on any show's cast that wants to be under its jurisdiction. On, the other hand. SAG should not object if the cast of any show wishes to be under AFTRA jurisdiction. This should be the cast of these shows decision. In fact, the NLRB should be petitioned to have a referendum in which actors could choose which union they want to be under. It is their future, it should be their decision.
Oh, by the way, the Ol’ Dog who has openly challenged the bullies at AFTRA, by putting up their poached contracts which they don’t want their members to see. You know, the ones with undercutting rates and residual giveaways! I have already posted two: The Disney contract, and the one for “Army Wives.” Shortly I will be putting up the contract for “Dirt.”
As, to those at AFTRA, who warned me not to post the contracts, I have yet to hear from them. When, and if, this happens you, and the Department of Labor, will be the first to know.
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