Supporter Statements

As former chairman of the committee that produced the 'con' argument for the 1998 referendum on the full-integration merger of SAG and AFTRA, I personally drafted that 'con' statement. I was also one of three actors who established and led the ad hoc group we called Save SAG. I now support the 2003 Plan for Consolidation and Affiliation. I believe it offers the fast-track to solutions for the problems we face right now and for those to come as well. Consolidation will not pass, however, unless many of you who voted in opposition to the 1998 plan decide to embrace this new proposal. If you examine it, I think you'll find, as I have, that you need not change your mind in order to change your vote. Please take a good look. I think you'll like what you see. I do. Daryl Anderson

This is a brilliant compromise. It achieves autonomy for actors, for broadcasters and for recording artists. It does this, and at the same time allows for economies of scale and greater bargaining leverage. Having two separate unions denied that autonomy required higher base dues for actors, and hurts us at the bargaining table. In short, I believe this is the better for the membership of both unions. And whether the pension and health plans conclude a merger or not, I believe union consolidation will be better for the participants in those plans. I urge members of both unions to vote yes. Kitty Swink

The last merger plan in '98-99 was badly conceived, but I, like most of the-then leaders of the anti-merger plan, have come out in favor of this new plan because of how much better conceived it is. We weren't against merger; we were against that plan. Must we take action with the changing times-YES. Will the new plan defend against producers slashing our hard fought contractual gains (money and benefits) -YES. Armin Shimerman

Yes, I was against the merger in 1998; but this is not a merger, it is a consolidation. Screen Actors Guild will be the acting affiliate in this consolidation with all the rights and power it has always had, and, with the actors from AFTRA, it will have much more potential for becoming once again a world leader in the entertainment industry. These are perilous times. If we don’t strengthen our leverage at the table with the corporations who own “the business,” we could become a small, marginalized, irrelevant union, ripe for takeover, and broke after our jurisdictional wars with AFTRA. Read the information you’ve received and get informed! Vote YES for Consolidation and Affiliation-it just makes sense! Mitch Ryan

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Contact
SAG Communications Department
Ph: (323) 549-6654
Fx: (323) 549-6656
communications@sag.org
Screen Actors Guild
Attn: Communications Department
5757 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
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