kdelphi, I agree that tv is on the wane. the prime demographic, males, 12-34, has largely tuned out. they are gaming and surfing these days. perhaps I should have said that the WGA strike accelerated this process. like when the OJ trial interrupted the soap opera schedule and one third of the audience never returned. whatever momentum those shows had, was gone and a slow process had sped up.
I am a member of a union, my third. I have only worked for five of my 40 working years without a union. it is because I want strong unions that I want smart unions and SAG calling a strike now would be stupid.
finally, SAG and the UAW really don’t have much in common except the possibility of a disastrous stretch ahead which could doom the unions themselves. I pray this will not happen, but if SAG were to strike, it would be death by self-inflicted wound.

kdelphi, I wrote that the WGA strike was a disaster, not the last SAG strike, but now that you mention it, the last SAG strike, which was against commercial producers was also a disaster. that business never recovered and nowadays there are far fewer commercial assignments for fewer actors. as to why the WGA strike was an abject failure—it shut the business down for months driving many viewers away from scripted television. they have not returned. the networks are in trouble and turning to less expensive programming. internet revenues have not and will not (for a long time), make up the difference in rates, much less the enormous losses caused by the strike.
as to the UAW, they are actually a labor union. auto workers do not have agents. no members of the UAW make lucrative above the line deals. and they are stuck with the simple, painful truth that their livelihoods are inextricably linked to the health of the big three. if the companies fail, as they are now doing, the union fails, too. they have to give back in the current economic environment and hope to fight another day.
the WGA strike seriously injured the television business. residuals are critical to the health of the unions. a SAG strike will hurt the business, and a FAILED SAG strike will weaken SAG and the labor movement.
making demands is not always the smart move. sometimes it’s suicide.

I have always admired Mr. Farrell’s progressive philosophy, but respectfully disagree with his analysis of the current situation.  I believe him to be wrong in his interpretation of the SAG leadership’s actions and motives.  And while I would prefer there be no missteps whatsoever by any of my unions, I understand that to be an unrealistic expectation, especially in light of the many voices, counsels and regions that comprise the Screen Actors Guild.

As a 30+ year member of both SAG and AFTRA, and having recently needed to obtain serious medical care for a family member, I was stunned by the disparity of coverage offered by each union. After some research, I was just as stunned by the differences in each union’s pensions.  Additionally, after 20 years, I am still waiting for the “experiment” of home video, DVD technology and its corresponding ridiculously low residuals to end.  After 20 years, I am still waiting for the cable tv “experiment” to end.  In 2008, I do not believe the AMPTP when they say that new media represents yet another “experiment” which will be revisited when the time is right and more information gained.  And although I walked the picket lines in support of the Writers Guild last Fall, I do not believe SAG’s agreement should be predicated on theirs, or the DGA’s. We are very different and we need a different (not better) contract. 

James Cagney et al fought to found and build SAG during the worst economic upheaval this country had ever seen…until now, and may God bless them for it. No one wants a strike; no one ever wins a strike.  But the AMPTP has succeeded in splitting our membership while offering nothing which would allow working class actors to survive and raise their families in the years ahead.  In such a climate, a little less political sniping and alot more solidarity may be in order.

While I was never an active, union type of guy, I now recognize I should have been much more involved.  And I applaud SAG’s current leadership and their positions, and am extremely disappointed with AFTRA’s.

Zwoman,  you either did not read the full article or are intentionally misstating Farrell’s motives. This man is working on projects worldwide in an effort to improve the lives of desperate people.

I am SO disappointed in Mike Farrell for being against voting to strike. Of course, the SAG big shots are only threatening to strike, not even deciding to schedule a REAL strike. I thought Farrell was smarter than this, but he seems to agree with the studio bosses that actors don’t have a right to be paid for their work. He should be ashamed of himself.  For some integrity on the SAG issue, see the World Socialist Web Site today and read the article “The crisis in the Screen Actors Guild and the need for a new political perspective” It was partly written by a SAG member.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/sag-d23.shtml

SAG’s leadership is acting, beautifully, playing a script the WGA leadership wrote for themselves—-and as a result, they are prepared for a strike and not for a labor negotiation.
but the rest of us can see that this script ends badly. the WGA strike was a disaster, even a cursory glance at the network landscape is proof. the SAG leadership are behaving irresponsibly—posturing and self righteous and they destined to fail, damaging SAG and all the other guilds and unions in the industry in the process. they must be given a new script titled, Retreat With Dignity, and spare us all another nail in Labor’s coffin.

I have a great deal of respect for Mike Farrell. And he makes some good points. I just can’t agree with him this time. I’m both a SAG and AFTRA member.

There is and has been a concerted effort in America to break organized labor. The UAW and SAG are two of America’s more prominent Unions. If we do not stand up today, my fear is that there will be no tomorrow. Big Business and the fat cats running American businesses (that have no allegiance to any Constitution, nation or people) have been plotting against labor ever since economic conditions back in the day forced them to accept unions that they could not make a scene of crushing with overt and public violence. They shovel propaganda to us all through their bought and paid for “news” papers and shows (with the help of AFTRA members cutting their own throats like poor people, working class people, minorities and gays that vote Republican)and using their bought and paid for politicians that represent them while we go unrepresented and pay all the taxes, bear all the burdens of actual work, and pay for and fight all their wars while they and their kids profit from them in safety. (My acting career stalled due to military mobilization and service after 9/11 and I’m still picking up the pieces of my life.)

It’s time we make a stand. It’s too bad that AFTRA, which calls itself organized labor will not stand with us, but that’s the way it is. As an actor, as opposed to a newscaster, I stand with the artists, not the few artists lumped together with media shills. Sorry if that’s insulting to some, but that’s the way it is in my opinion.

We need to stand up. We need to strike. And we need to win. All we are asking for is what’s fair. A hundred years ago people did the hard thing for us and now it’s our turn to do the hard thing for the right reasons and for the future - the future of our industry, the future of organized labor and the future, if there is one, of our nation.