For the Record

I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled that the more moderate members of the SAG board ousted Doug Allen and replaced the negotiating committee yesterday.

Make no mistake about it, I feel that the deal the AMPTP has offered is a slap in the face. It sucks. It's grossly unfair. The lead folks at the AMPTP are bastards.

In other words, I feel SAG has the moral high ground here.

But despite those feelings I was not in favor of a strike.

I was in favor last year, when there was a chance of striking with AFTRA. Once that ship sailed, I was on the fence.

What got me off the fence and opposed to the strike was not the tanking economy, or fear of losing my own jobs, or pressure from various folks in Hollywood to play along so that the industry wouldn't face its second stoppage in as many years.

No, I was against the strike for one reason and one reason only: I had no faith that the current leadership could get a better deal.

I attended the open house for SAG members in West Hollywood back in December and found Doug Allen and Alan Rosenberg to be incredibly tone-deaf to the concerns of their membership. Valid questions about real issues related to a strike were raised throughout the meeting and were met with contempt, sarcasm, or condescension. What the guys on stage wanted was a pep rally, not a situation where they'd have to discuss their (now failed) strategy with the rank-and-file. There were lots of folks at the meeting who, like me, were on the fence, and with a simple reasoned explanation might have been tipped onto the "YEA" side. But Allen and Rosenberg essentially were saying, "you just have to trust us, we know what we're doing, just get onboard with us and tell your friends to as well." They were spinning us—exaggerating, sometimes distorting facts—spinning their own membership, the same folks who had elected them! And these are the same guys who alienated AFTRA, illegally tried to talk a soap cast into decertifying, the same guys who didn't get a strike authorization BEFORE their negotiations. Idiots.

I tried to imagine what it would be like in a collective bargaining meeting with them and realized I couldn't imagine anyone being able make progress towards a deal with them.

You only strike if you actually think it will lead to an improved contract. With these guys in charge, I think we would have likely had 3-4 months of no work, followed by the same deal we'd been offered—or worse. This is what most members of the writers guild feel was the result of their 4-month strike.

I'm glad we can move on. I expect the new negotiating committee to get one or two token concessions from the producers, cut a (still crappy) deal, and we'll all move forward. My fervent hope is that three years from now, with AFTRA and the WGA by our side, we can force the bloodsuckers to give us the deal we deserve.

In 2011 we'll have leverage. Right now we have none.