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As you may already know, Amy Brenneman, Ned Vaughn and other AMV supporters are part of the Unite for Strength slate, which is challenging SAG’s current leadership in the election taking place right now. Over 1500 SAG members supported the AMV proposal, so we felt it was important to give you the following update.

In an attempt to strengthen SAG’s position at the bargaining table, we asked the Board to apply to the TV/Theatrical contract a principle already in use with other SAG contracts. But the affected member voting proposal was conceived before SAG’s relationship with AFTRA reached the breaking point. The results of that rupture have been dramatic and damaging and are still playing out in the current contract negotiation. Regardless of the merits of the AMV proposal, repairing the fractured relationship between SAG and AFTRA is the most important issue facing actors and it must be the focus of our efforts going forward.

Achieving the crucial goal of uniting SAG and AFTRA will require broad member support, and pursuing the AMV proposal further could get in the way of that. Consequently, the proposal is not part of the Unite for Strength platform or a goal of the slate. However, Membership First – the faction controlling SAG’s board – has repeatedly attempted to mislead members on this point and continues to do so.

To set the record straight and remove any doubt about their intentions, Unite for Strength made a statement to the press yesterday and offered the following pledge: “We will take no action as members of the SAG Board of Directors to take away any member's right to vote on SAG contracts or any other SAG matter.”

We urge you to support the Unite for Strength candidates. To learn more, please visit www.UniteforStrength.com.

AMV leader Amy Brenneman will attend today’s opening of the SAG TV/Theatrical contract negotiations as an observer. As with the affected member voting effort, our first concern is lending strength to the Guild as it enters these critical negotiations.

On Saturday, April 12th, our affected member voting proposal went before the SAG National Board.

We were not admitted into the room to speak on behalf of the proposal, even though there is clear precedent for non-board members addressing such meetings (the FTAC initiative being a recent example). President Rosenberg declined our direct requests to him earlier in the week and he rejected the requests of board members who moved from the floor that we be admitted to address the meeting.

When the proposal was introduced, a motion was quickly made to refer it to the Guild Government Review Committee. Numerous board members objected and an extended debate followed. Those who wished to discuss the merits of (and potentially adopt) the proposal were eventually voted down 60/40 and it was referred to the GGRC in a fashion that guarantees it will remain unresolved for the upcoming contract. This is noteworthy on two counts:

1. This runs counter to President Rosenberg’s previous statements that the board would resolve the matter prior to the upcoming ratification vote.

2. We requested a preliminary review by the GGRC over a month ago for the exact reason that we did not want to have it referred at this weekend’s plenary. President Rosenberg denied our repeated requests.

That the proposal has now been referred to “the committee where things go to die” (as one board member called it) makes it clear that the current Guild leadership lacks the will to address this issue. However, we are not giving up. We’re going to take time during the contract negotiations to plan our next steps, but rest assured, we will keep fighting until working actors have an effective voice at SAG. And we will continue our efforts with AFTRA to see that affected member voting is implemented there.

As we examine options for the future we will be seeking input from the more than 1500 working actors who have supported this effort so remarkably. Watch your email inbox and check workingactorsvoice.com for the latest.

Our affected member voting proposal goes before the SAG National Board this weekend, April 12 & 13. In just four days, SAG will determine if actors’ contracts will be decided by those who work under them, or continue to be decided by those who don’t. This directly affects your livelihood, so please read on.

We've revised our proposal.
We recently invited over 80 visiting SAG and AFTRA board members to a reception in Century City to solicit their ideas about this concept. These reps - most from markets with far less work than Hollywood -- listened with open minds and offered valuable feedback. The next day, AFTRA promised to appoint a special committee to study our affected member voting proposal (see below). In the absence of such committee review at SAG before its vote this weekend, we?ve used input from that event, along with feedback from many other members and our own research, to revise our proposal:

We've adjusted the standard from 5 days to just ONE DAY of principal work per year (and/or equivalent earnings through background work or residuals) on average for the preceding 6 years. (Vested members are still included - see the full proposal here.)

This standard will include the overwhelming majority of members who work the contract, but will ensure that SAG card holders with no contract involvement - not to mention those with a direct conflict of interest - can no longer control contract decisions

How you can help:
Tell the SAG Board you are looking for its support of affected member voting by sending a quick email to committeeoffice@sag.org. Put "SAG National Board c/o Michelle Bennett" in the subject line, and please cc us at our contact link above. It really will make a difference, so please take a moment to make your voice heard.

President Rosenberg’s comments:
The Wall Street Journal reported on our effort last week, and quoted SAG's President Rosenberg attacking us and our proposal, saying "Our board and our members will never vote for this and I wish we weren't discussing it in any major way. To make this such a public issue at this time is meant to do nothing but weaken us." Over 1400 loyal SAG members- from every level of our profession and including current and past officers and board members - support this effort. To suggest that we would deliberately try to weaken the Guild as it negotiates the contract we depend on is preposterous.

With great effort and careful consideration we've crafted a proposal that is unquestionably reasonable and fair. Isn't it just common sense that contracts should be decided by those who work under them? Of course it is - and it is now up to the Board to maximize SAG's strength and credibility by implementing this overdue reform.

The SAG-AFTRA split:
As you probably already know, our unions will now negotiate separately, and perhaps competitively. This is perhaps the most damaging problem facing actors who depend on union contracts.

Much has been said about the collapse of cooperative negotiations, with mutual accusations of bad behavior and mistrust. But this much is clear: it's the predictable consequence of having two independent unions representing the same employees doing exactly the same work for exactly the same employers. The months of public squabbling that brought us here have been a boon to the studios, and have weakened both unions' negotiating positions. This makes it all the more important that SAG and AFTRA each adopt our proposal. By ensuring that contracts are decided by those who work under them, our unions can best position themselves to secure the strongest contracts possible - even if they must do so in the risky environment of separate negotiations.

To that end, we are pleased to report the following, from an AFTRA press release on March 30th:

"Responding to the petition from more than 1,400 performers to define "affected members" for voting on contracts, the National Board authorized National President Roberta Reardon to appoint a committee, to be confirmed by the Administrative Committee, to review the so-called "Working Actors Voice" proposal and report recommendations to the National Board.?

We will keep you updated on progress at both SAG and AFTRA as further developments warrant.

Recent reports suggest that SAG and AFTRA will negotiate the TV/Theatrical contract together under the Phase One agreement. A joint meeting of the National Boards has been scheduled for March 29th, and we will request that a joint committee be appointed to review and refine our proposal. Such a review will augment the research we have already done and yield a final proposal which can be voted on by the boards prior to contract ratification.

The affected member voting proposal is a powerful opportunity for both unions - especially in the context of joint negotiation. Once it's adopted, AFTRA's broadcasters will no longer be voting on actors' contracts. Nor will SAG members like CBS President Les Moonves, director Steven Spielberg, producer Harvey Weinstein, and Variety Editor Peter Bart. It cuts through the institutional disagreements and brings focus back to the reason both unions exist: to secure and enforce the strongest possible contracts for the members who depend on them.

We had a promising and productive meeting with President Rosenberg and NED Doug Allen at SAG offices Wednesday afternoon. There was frank discussion and an open exchange of views; best of all, after hearing our presentation, President Rosenberg agreed that this idea has gained enough traction that it should be considered by the Board in time for the upcoming contract vote.

Your support - over 1000 names and counting - caused the leadership to listen far more intently. Our next task is to convince SAG's National Board, and that will be our focus. Your support is our greatest asset and must continue to grow. Below is our last letter and updated supporters list - check it for your friends and colleagues and if you don't see their names, reach out to see if they want to join us. We are also pursuing this issue with the leadership at AFTRA, so that ALL working performers have an effective voice in the contract decisions that directly impact their lives and livelihoods.

Sincerely, Amy Brenneman & Ned Vaughn