UFS’s Vision of a New Merged Union: UNCLE JOE’S ACTORS’ UNION.
.: . Date: Thursday 8/28/2008
I must say, listening to Ned Vaughn, the spokesman for “Unite For Strength’s” Slate of candidates in the current election, was both eye opening and scary.
Mr. Vaughn is a very personable guy. He is both glib and naïve when it comes to the problems facing SAG today. (A dangerous combination)
As, you probably know, he and his slate was based on a foundation of qualified voting, which would disenfranchise most of our members by taking away their ability to vote on contracts that affect their lives as actors. (He and his slate have subsequently vowed not to implement qualified voting, albeit only after they were named on my website--and they figured that members just might not vote for any candidates that intended to take their vote away. Until then, they pledged to their supporters “we are not giving up…rest assured…we will keep fighting…”
Well whichever pledge you believe, one way or another, they are lying to someone. Either to their affected voting supporters, or, now, to the entire membership in order to get elected.
Now, qualified voting is scary enough, especially if you are one of the 75% that will lose your vote under the plan.
But what is even scarier is that under UFS’ merger plan, you won’t just lose your vote, you’ll will lose your union.
You see, they don’t just want to get all actors under SAG's roof as Membership Firsts' leadership advocates. They want to scrap our beloved Screen Actors Guild, with its 75 year history of serving actors, to form a NEW UNION with broadcasters, disc jockeys, anchors, weathermen and whoever.
In a web cast interview with Jonathan Handel, Ned Vaughn was asked what this new union, that he visioned, would be called. Here is his response. CLICK THE MIDDLE BUTTON TO PLAY!
Here’ the transcript of the above excerpt. The interviewer is Jonathan Handel. The question is directed to UFS spokesman and candidate Ned Vaughn)
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JH: By the way what would the merged union be called, SAG, AFTRA, something different?
NV: I said a number of times, I mean who knows, we’ll see. We’ll vote on it. “Uncle Joes Actors Union” would do for me! I, I, I, say that somewhat kiddingly, listen, I value the history of SAG. It’s a union with a rich and storied history. It’s a great union that I’ve proud to be a member of, and it has served me very well. But what I care more about than SAG’s history is future of actors going forward. And the only way to protect it is to CREATE A NEW UNION, and again, I think the name matters very much less than the leverage of combining the two.
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Okay, he was being flippant with the “Uncle Joe” name. But what is unnerving is that this guy has no apparent affection for the Screen Actors Guild Name, or for that matter, any idea of its VALUE!
In many ways, our name is the subliminal,emotional glue that holds us together. A shared bond with all the great stars of the past. When you join SAG, you ain’t just a member of any old union. You are a proud member of the world famous Screen Actors Guild. The union of Cagney, Gable, Monroe and all the other great stars. And if you were like me, the first thing, you did when you got your card was call your folks. Hey, I didn’t do that when I joined AFTRA, and I doubt that if AIMA had succeeded, many young actors would have called their folks and proudly declared, “Mom, Dad, I’m a member of AIMA…ah, well, it means I’m now a Media Artist.”
In their urge to merge, UFS candidates seemed to have forgotten what it means to actors to be part of the greatest actors union in the world THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD!
And I’ll be damned, if it is worth giving that up for some nonsensical fantasy of Ned and his pals that merging with a bunch of broadcasters is somehow going to suddenly give us leverage with our employers. All it is going to do, beside lowering our contracts, is bring into our ACTORS GUILD thousands of non-actors that have adamantly refused to stop doing non-union work on both local broadcast stations, and national cable operations like CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.
UFS’ idea, that merging with AFTRA to stop them from poaching our contracts, is sort of like catching someone burglarizing your house and asking them to move in.
Mr. Vaughn, and his new leadership, are under the misunderstanding that once this NEW union, "Uncle Joe’s Actors Union," has formed that our employers will just pick up negotiations with the SAG contracts in place, contracts that actors have struggled and sacrificed 75 years to achieve, is not only ridiculously naïve--it is downright dangerous.
If you think our employers would not whipsaw a NEW union, whatever it is called, out of every benefit SAG has in place, why, I’ve got some free tickets for you to attend UFS’ next "Union Democracy" Convention.
.
Oh, and what happens when IATSE, or another upstart union, moves in on us as IATSE has already done with the WGA, and starts low-balling SAG’s contracts?
Merge with them too?
Hey, as our number of members escalates, and with UFS in a leadership position, “Uncle Joe’s Actors Union” could have a great new Jamie Cromwell type slogan.
MORE MEMBERS, LESS VOTERS!
A.L. Miller SW Editor & Chief
Note: The shows have been archived. To watch the interviews, with UFS’ Ned Vaughn--and MF’s David Jolliffe and Anne-Marie Johnson click here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/look-at-la.
Scan down to Jonathan's Video Clips and click the small icons with his picture. One has Mr. Vaughn's interview, the other one has Mr. Jolliffe's and Ms. Johnson's interview.
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UFS’s Vision of a New Merged Union: UNCLE JOE’S ACTORS’ UNION.
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