*alert Susan Flannery of THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL Sets the Record Straight !! And negotitions between SAG and the AMPTP kicked off today.

Re: Statement of events leading up to AFTRA leaving Phase 1 and excluding itself from joint negotiations with SAG .

LET'S SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT!
" NO CAST MEMBER OF THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL HAS BEEN SOLICITED BY ANY DIRECTOR OR ELECTED OFFICER OF SAG TO LEAVE AFTRA AND JOIN THEM......
PERIOD"

The sequence of events is as follows.
Shortly after the first cast discussions of leaving AFTRA, Bill Thomas and David Basbaris ( AFTRA ) called me & asked if there was any substance to rumors of a petition for descertification.
That was NO PETITION since we didn't even know we required to have one.
Talk about being "Babes in the Woods".

I explained to Bill and David that we were only in the early stages of discussions. I gave them my word of honor that we would meet with AFTRA before any final decisions were made.

David and I have a long union relationship, so I felt comfortable that he would take me at my word. I also informed them that we would meet with SAG.

There were 3 or 4 phone calls over the next 2 weeks between us about these matters, including a request for a copy of the contract between AFTRA and B& B and setting a meeting with AFTRA.

The cast subsequently did in fact meet over 2 evenings with Roberta Reardon and Kim Roberts Hedgepath.

Just so everyone understands, the idea of exploring the possibility for a new 'Collective Bargaining Agent"
began with me.

There has been over the past 21 years at B&B, a growing dissatisfaction with AFTRA regarding health plans, residuals, pensions, meal penalties, turnarounds etc. In the final analysis, the contracts negotiated on our behalf over the years, in our opinion, have fallen very short of our expectations!

Because we still live in a democracy, and have choices, more internal meetings with the cast took place, and the decision to begin exploratory conversations to seek a different Collective Bargaining Agent began in earnest.

As members in good standing with Screen Actors Guild, my Co-Star ( of 21 years ) John MCCook and I met with SAG National Director Doug Allen & SAG President Allen Rosenberg to ask what our options were.

We did not, as has been reported, complain bitterly about AFTRA.
We only wanted to know if it were possible for SAG to take us into the fold. However, reality quickly interverned. Doug informed us and rightly so, that any complaints we had regarding AFTRA should be brought to their attention by us.

We acknowledged that, and informed him that we were in the process of setting up meetings with AFTRA for just that purpose.

However, we were already in our minds beyond that point. We never approached this issue out of anger, we simply felt we needed, in the larger view of things, a more focused, stronger, and realistic approach to the changing world of television, and the industry as a whole as it is affected by new media.

Now to the issue of who is truly putting the brakes on our ability to pick the union we choose to represent us.

According to the AFL-CIO, there is a " side bar" agreement that prevents a group of union workers in good standing from leaving one union and going to another without suffering a 2 year suspension ( waiting period ) before their union of choice can accept them.

This agreement withholds from union members the protection of a union shop and
collective bargaining agent of their choice..... in this case SAG.

A cooling off period ? The National Labor Relations Board and their 42 DAY waiting period provide that caveat.

So we have to ask? What is the real agenda for the AFL-CIO in imposing that 2 yr Waiting Period?

Has this, among other issues, created an atmosphere and perception amongst unon workers that they are not best served by the AFL-CIO?

It seems that as movements continue to grow, the institution becomes more important then the members it represents. Is that what we and other unions affiliated with them are experiencing with the AFL CIO?

I called John Sweeny in Washington DC twice to discuss this rule or regulation and even to plead for a waiver, and he has yet to extend the courtesy of a phone call.

It is time to accomplish something positive and meaningful for the working actor in their affliations with Labor Organizations.

SAG, studios begin negotiations

Guild kicks off talks with majors

By DAVE MCNARY

Opting for a low-key approach amid the town's fears of a strike, the Screen Actors Guild and the majors have launched feature-primetime negotiations with a minimum of fanfare -- in sharp contrast to last year's incendiary WGA talks.

Bargaining began Tuesday morning at AMPTP headquarters with the official presentation of proposals. SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers issued a brief statement in the late afternoon, disclosing only that talks would resume this morning.

The two sides have not agreed to a news blackout, but plan to limit their disclosure to jointly issued end-of-the-day statements for the next two weeks.

Although these plans may change if talks become contentious, the main hope behind the strategy is to avoid the bitter back-and-forth attacks that dominated WGA negotiations before and during the writers strike. Even before the first WGA bargaining sessions began in mid-July, both sides had been blasting each other's positions; once the talks started, the accusations became only more vehement and vituperative.

The start of the SAG talks comes on the heels of a bruising battle with sister union the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists over jurisdiction and strategy.

On Monday, AFTRA spurned a last-minute invite from SAG to rejoin it at the bargaining table under terms of the 1981 Phase One partnership, with AFTRA asserting it can no longer trust SAG leaders due to a dispute over possible decertification of "The Bold and the Beautiful." So Tuesday's session represented the first time in 27 years that SAG and AFTRA have not negotiated together on the contract.

There's still plenty of potential for the guild negotiations to veer off track. The congloms have insisted SAG's going to have to accept terms similar to those in the WGA and DGA pacts signed earlier this year; SAG president Alan Rosenberg has been explicit that the guild must get a boost in DVD residuals and improvements in the new-media portions of the WGA and DGA deals.

The current SAG-AFTRA deal expires June 30. AFTRA, which covers a handful of primetime shows, will begin its negotiations on April 28 -- which puts pressure on SAG to wrap up its talks by then or face the prospect of AFTRA signing a deal first and then using it to expand its coverage in areas of shared jurisdiction.

In a sign that SAG is cognizant of the looming AFTRA talks, it's already scheduled talks for the next two Saturdays, in addition to the weekdays.

And the bitter dispute with AFTRA received more fuel Tuesday as "The Bold and the Beautiful" star Susan Flannery asserted that SAG had not initiated the question of decertification.

"Just so everyone understands, the idea of exploring the possibility of a new 'collective bargaining agent' began with me," she said in a letter to the SAG board. "There have been over the past 21 years at 'B&B' a growing dissatisfaction with AFTRA regarding health plans, residuals, pensions, meal penalties, turnarounds, etc. In the final analysis, the contracts negotiated on our behalf over the years, in our opinion, have fallen very short of our expectations!"

AFTRA leaders have said that SAG's involvement in discussing decertification with Flannery was "the last straw." But Flannery insisted that SAG national exec director Doug Allen merely advised her and co-star John McCook that they should take the matter to AFTRA.

Tuesday's launch of negotiations coincided with a labor solidarity rally at Hancock Park to start a three-day "March to the Docks" to push for better jobs. SAG board member Esai Morales and AFTRA board member Jason George both spoke at the event, which drew about 1,000 supporters from more than two dozen unions.

"Unions are the only way to keep our dignity," Morales said. "We've been under assault for decades. Corporate America has turned us into a serf nation."

Morales also said SAG doesn't want a strike, reiterating a position that Allen and Rosenberg have expressed repeatedly.

"But we will not be forced into a position where we have to take less and less," he added. "We will not be the bad guy on this. Let it be on them to give us what we deserve."

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From: Susan Flannery of THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL