Friday, March 6, 2009

Seeking SAG Leadership

It's a shame what is happening to the Screen Actors Guild.  There's a division within the union that is robbing it of a strong united presence & ultimately, power.  Membership First vs. Unite For Strength.  Strike vs. No strike.  There's another division between SAG and AFTRA which has to be dealt with, but let's focus on SAG right now.  When SAG President Alan Rosenberg and Negotiating Head Doug Allen were ousted, the new negotiating team appointed by SAG board members sat down with AMPTP, quickly declined their final contract offer and walked away from the negotiating table.  

SAG is a union in limbo, without solid footing.  They haven't asked for a membership vote authorizing a strike because they know, more than likely, they won't get it considering the current economy. And the truth is, there are way too many people in the world hurting right now and they don't need some coddled actors whining about money and threatening further decline of our economy with a strike.  Are our SAG leaders thinking about anyone other than themselves?  Do they even consider the small business owners who would be deeply affected by a strike and who don't even have anything to do with the industry? 

Why do we continue to elect actors who have no business background to head our union? Where is our sense of integrity, our wisdom, our good business sense?  Where is our sense of gratitude, our love for what we do, our willingness to work together?  Gone in a world of greed, and that world is collapsing all around us.