“Although the individual national board rules for both SAG and AFTRA provide for a “minority report” in the event 25 percent of that board votes against a proposed contract, there is NO similar rule that applies in a SAG/AFTRA Joint National Board meeting.”

Therefore, the Presidents’ recommendation for the inclusion of a “con” statement from the minority in the referendum materials will need the approval of a simple majority of the joint board

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAG, AFTRA PRESIDENTS ENDORSE INCLUSION
OF OPPOSITION VIEWS IN REFERENDUM MATERIALS

ON TV/THEATRICAL DEAL

Los Angeles (January 27, 2005) – In a statement issued today, Melissa Gilbert, president of Screen Actors Guild (SAG), and John P. Connolly, president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), announced they will recommend to the SAG/AFTRA Joint National Board that both a pro and con statement be included in the member referendum, assuming the recently negotiated TV/Theatrical Agreement is approved by the joint board this Saturday.

Connolly and Gilbert stated: “We believe this deal stands on its merits, and we also believe that the membership deserves and has a right to expect an honest, open assessment from its unions. By inviting those who disagree with the decision of our negotiating committee to state their views in the official document, we are taking a stand against divisive political infighting in support of full disclosure and democratic debate. The inclusion of pro and con statements is not required, but is a reflection of our confidence in the ability of our members to analyze the facts, assess the environment in which they work, and make the decision that is right for them and for their unions.”

Although the individual national board rules for both SAG and AFTRA provide for a “minority report” in the event 25 percent of that board votes against a proposed contract, there is no similar rule that applies in a SAG/AFTRA Joint National Board meeting. Therefore, the Presidents’ recommendation for the inclusion of a “con” statement from the minority in the referendum materials will need the approval of a simple majority of the joint board.

About SAG

Screen Actors Guild is the nation’s largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists’ rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century. With 20 branches nationwide, SAG represents nearly 120,000 working actors in film, television, industrials, commercials and music videos. The Guild exists to enhance actors’ working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists’ rights. SAG is a proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO. Headquartered in Los Angeles, you can visit SAG online at www.sag.org http://www.sag.org/>

About AFTRA
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — affiliated with the AFL-CIO — is a diverse national union representing nearly 80,000 professional performers, broadcasters and recording artists in 32 Locals throughout the country. AFTRA members work as actors, broadcast journalists, dancers, singers, announcers, hosts, comedians and disc jockeys in all aspects of the media industries including television and radio, sound recordings, commercials, industrial non-broadcast, interactive games and the Internet. More information on AFTRA is available at www.aftra.com .

Although the individual national board rules for both SAG and AFTRA provide for a “minority report” in the event 25 percent of that board votes against a proposed contract, there is no similar rule that applies in a SAG/AFTRA Joint National Board meeting.

SAG Board Motions Summary
Record #27244 Date: 05/27/1998 Meeting: Joint Board Page#S1

---

TO APPROVE THE CENTRAL/EASTERN SECTION MOTION OF APRIL 27, 1998, THAT FOR THE 1998 THEATRICAL CONTRACTS, IF 25% OF MORE OF THOSE VOTING VOTE “NO” ON A MOTION TO RECOMMEND RATIFICATION OF THE CONTRACT TO THE MEMBERS, A MINORITY REPORT MAY ACCOMPANY THE REFERENDUM, IF SUCH REPORT IS PREPARED AND PRESENTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FOLLOWING:
THERE SHALL BE A SINGLE MINORITY REPORT, PREPARED BY THOSE HAVING VOTED “NO”

ON THE MOTION TO RECOMMEND RATIFICATION, OR A SUBCOMMITTEE OF SUCH MEMBERS CHOSEN BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF SUCH MEMBERS. THE MINORITY REPORT SHALL NOT EXCEED 1,000 WORDS IN LENGTH.

IF A MINORITY REPORT IS SUBMITTED, THE UNIONS SHALL PREPARE A MAJORITY
REPORT WHICH SHALL NOT EXCEED 1,000 WORDS IN LENGTH, EXCLUDING THE FACTUAL PRESENTATION OF THE TERMS OF THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT, VOTER INSTRUCTIONS,

ETC.
BOTH STATEMENTS MUST BE PRESENTED TO THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
EITHER UNION, NO LATER THAN TEN DAYS PRIOR TO THE PROPOSED DATE FOR THE
SUBMISSION OF THE REFERENDUM TO THE PRINTER. UPON RECEIPT, THE MAJORITY ANDMINORITY REPORTS WILL THEN BE EXCHANGED AND REVIEWED, AND REBUTTALS MAY THENBE SUBMITTED BY EACH SIDE.

REBUTTALS SHALL NOT EXCEED 500 WORDS IN LENGTH AND MUST BE PRESENTED TO THENATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF EITHER UNION NOT LESS THAN FIVE DAYS PRIOR TO THE PROPOSED DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF THE REFERENDUM TO THE PRINTER.
APPROVED BY THE WESTERN SECTION:
70 – 0 – 0
DEFEATED BY THE CENTRAL/EASTERN SECTION: 27 – 37 – 0
TOTAL VOTE: 97 – 37 – 0 (APPROVED)

Thursday January 27, 05:52 PM
Hollywood casting agents threaten strike

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Hollywood’s casting directors threatened Wednesday to walk off the job early next week if they are not allowed to organize under the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The absence of the 500 casting directors would affect pilot season casting but, most significantly, keep truck drivers, location managers and other members of Teamsters Local 399 in Los Angeles and Local 817 in New York from crossing the picket lines. That immediately could disrupt feature film and television production, giving union organizers some leverage in trying to force the hand of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios and networks.

The warning was conveyed to about 300 casting directors, location managers and actors during a rally at the Writers Guild Theatre in Beverly Hills. Teamsters vp Jim Santangelo drew a standing ovation when he relayed a message from Teamsters president James P. Hoffa in Washington.

“Whatever the cost, you will bring those people into our union — that’s what he said to me,” said Santangelo, directing his wrath at the studios and networks. “These people on Mahogany Row, who want to dictate and call all the shots, who say you are individual (contractors), I say kiss my ass. If we stick together, we will kick their ass. Believe me when I tell you about that.”Efforts to have some stars show up at the rally fell a little short, with Marcia Gay Harden and Janel Moloney among the notable names.

AMPTP president and chief negotiator Nick Counter said the Teamsters run the risk of breaching the “no strike” clause of their contract, which limits work actions to disputes with the AMPTP.

“If the Teamsters engage in any job action, it would be in violation of their contract with the AMPTP, and we will take all steps necessary to remedy that violation,” Counter said.

That remedy could take the form of lawsuits to recoup lost production expenses. The pilot season is only now getting under way as the broadcast networks finalize their pilot orders for the upcoming season.
A job action involving the casters would be the first labor action in Hollywood since commercials actors went out for six months in 2000 over their contract. It also would be perhaps the first job action over organizing since the 1940s.

The Teamsters most recently went on strike in 1988, a monthlong walkout that led to the hiring of replacement drivers.
The two sides are next set to meet Tuesday. The casting directors say they will begin a work stoppage shortly afterward if they do not get what they want.

The casting directors insist they are employees who should be allowed to bargain collectively in the same way as directors, writers, actors and most other production professionals.
AMPTP maintains that the casters are not legally entitled to unionize because they are independent contractors who additionally make employment decisions.

Industry officials say they are sympathetic to the desire for benefits and recently tried to defuse the situation by offering health and pension benefits, mostly likely under the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans. Similar benefits already are offered to other nonunion workers, including producers and production accountants.

The casters rejected that offer because they reportedly want full union rights, including guarantees regarding minimum wages and working conditions.

“We’ll do what we have to do to get the job done,” Local 399 secretary-treasurer Leo Reed told the rally Wednesday. “All I’m saying to the heads of the studios is show me that you are reasonable, show me that you care.”

Added Local 399 business agent Steve Dayan, “We’re here to urge the AMPTP to recognize this deserving group of people without forcing the casting directors into a potential work stoppage.”
Miguel Contreras, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said the threat of a Teamsters strike should not be taken lightly.

“Not only are they large, but they’re known for their fight — they don’t back down,” Contreras said. “Labor’s going to fight so everyone gets the respect they deserve as working men and women.”
The Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America also have “no strike” clauses that prevent them from joining in any work stoppage. Still, those unions have expressed their support, with DGA president Michael Apted noting recently, “This is a simple matter of fairness.”
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
—

Jan. 25, 2005

SAG board rips ‘premature’ deal

By Jesse Hiestand
Hollywood Reporter

SAG’s Hollywood board wasted no time in denouncing the recently negotiated TV/Theatrical contract Monday, voting 36-3 at its meeting to demand that negotiators reopen the talks instead of putting a “premature, short-sighted and hastily negotiated” deal to members for a vote.

If they ultimately are successful, it would throw Hollywood into chaos as features and other projects would have to be canceled because there would be no guarantee that actors would be available after their current deal expires June 30. At the same time, a similar effort by the Hollywood board failed last year when members strongly approved a one-year contract extension.

For now, the Hollywood board’s vote has no teeth because it is up to the joint SAG/AFTRA negotiating committee to decide Saturday whether the $200 million contract will go to members for referendum. Still, the negotiating committee was split 17-9 in approving the contract last week, and the Hollywood board, which routinely opposes the policies of SAG chief negotiator and CEO Bob Pisano and president Melissa Gilbert, hopes to capitalize on that.

Their cause is helped by the fact that several of the Hollywood board members also served as negotiators, and their near-term goal is to muster at least a 25% opposition to the deal among negotiators, which would force the inclusion of a “con statement” reflecting their views in the referendum that goes to members.

“Since the Hollywood board represents the majority of SAG actors and the majority of money earned under the TV/Theatrical contract, it is safe to assume that thousands of working actors, if given the ability to weigh the pros and cons of this proposed deal, will be voting against this contract when it is offered in a referendum next month,” national board member and negotiating committee member Kent McCord said after the meeting at SAG’s headquarters in Los Angeles.

Union leaders were equally quick to attack their foes on the Hollywood board for allegedly being reckless.

“The group of members who prematurely oppose this contract are pursuing a political agenda and are prepared to walk our membership off a cliff for purely political gain,” according to a joint statement from Gilbert, secretary-treasurer James Cromwell, 2nd vp Paul Christie, 3rd vp Steve Fried and former 1st vp Mike Farrell. “They do not reflect the entire Hollywood membership, which is vast, diverse and smarter than they think. The only body with the authority to truly consider the merits of this contact is the joint SAG/AFTRA negotiating board, which meets this weekend. We have every confidence they will do what’s right for members.”

A growing number of Hollywood-area members also rallied in immediate defense of the new contract Monday night. They included George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Camryn Manheim, Stephen Collins, Ed Begley Jr., Morgan Fairchild, Tess Harper, Tony Danza, Rene Auberjonois, Alfred Molina, Janel Moloney, Jeffrey Tambor, Diane Baker and Melina Kanakaredes.

The Hollywood board urged members to vote down last year’s one-year contract extension, but it was ultimately approved by an 87.4% margin by the members of SAG and AFTRA. Even SAG’s Hollywood division came out strongly for the extension, voting yes by 82.5%-17.5%.

The contract, reached late Thursday with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, was praised by the unions as the most lucrative in their history. They said its gains, including an additional $60 million in health care contributions during the three-year term, benefit every category of actor including background performers and stunt coordinators.

The political infighting between Gilbert’s Restore Respect camp and MembershipFirst, which controls the Hollywood board, has consumed SAG for years and was a major topic during negotiations as well.

One MembershipFirst leader, SAG 1st vp Anne-Marie Johnson, said Monday that the tentative deal should be rejected simply because it was allegedly rushed.

“We were told that SAG would take a few weeks of ‘down time’ to perform due diligence and bring some research to the table as well as alternative negotiation strategies,” said Johnson, who was one of the nine negotiators to vote against the deal last week. “Instead, negotiators began right where they had left off and, as a result, producers won a major rollback in residuals.”

The contract’s opponents are chiefly angered that SAG, like the WGA and the DGA before them, agreed to an AMPTP request that certain residuals be waived on early reruns of new television series in a bid to help the shows survive and thrive. Some WGA officials also opposed this idea, likewise calling it a “roll back.”

MembershipFirst also is furious that SAG/AFTRA did not force the major studios to give them a greater share of DVD residuals. All of the other Hollywood unions failed on that front as well because the AMPTP made it clear that they were willing to risk a prolonged strike to project those revenues, which have proven so crucial to offsetting the frequent failures of major motion pictures.

“It is irresponsible for the SAG leadership to frighten our membership into thinking that the only alternative is a strike, five and a half months before our contract is up,” SAG national board member Frances Fisher said Monday. “We have plenty of time to improve this package and all we want at this point is to get back to the negotiating table.”

Union leaders including Gilbert said they fought for the DVD residuals but, facing intense industry opposition, were instead forced to the last minute as a bargaining chip that allowed them to extract sizable gains in other areas. Those increased included better residuals for performers on the WB Network and UPN, they said at the time.

Bargaining on this contract began Dec. 6 and recessed twice — once for the holidays — before a deal was reached. If approved, the contract will run from July 1-June 30, 2008.