Monday, December 15, 2008

SAG: Over 130 Stars Against Strike

Over 130 stars have weighed in on the SAG strike authorization, coming out firmly against. Citing the economy, the A-listers “strongly” urged SAG members not to authorize a strike, and instead “take the high road … unite with our brothers and sisters in the entertainment community and … three years down the line … make a great deal” when all the union contracts expire roughly simultaneously.

Finally, we’re hearing from the A-listers, and it may be enough to pull SAG back from the brink. Meanwhile SAG Board members in NY and Chicago came out against the authorization over the weekend.

In addition, SAG President Alan Rosenberg was forced to cancel the emergency in-person National Board meeting he had scheduled for this Friday, after SAG activists pointed out in the strongest terms that Rosenberg had no right under the SAG constitution or state law to require that the meeting be in person, rather than by videoconference. (SAG uses videoconference for many of its meetings.)

Here’s the A-listers’ letter.

Dear SAG Board Members, officers and staff:

We feel very strongly that SAG members should not vote to authorize a strike at this time. We don't think that an authorization can be looked at as merely a bargaining tool. It must be looked at as what it is -- an agreement to strike if negotiations fail.

We support our union and we support the issues we're fighting for, but we do not believe in all good conscience that now is the time to be putting people out of work.

None of our friends in the other unions are truly happy with the deals they made in their negotiations. Three years from now all the union contracts will be up again at roughly the same time. At that point if we plan and work together with our sister unions we will have incredible leverage.

As hard as it may be to wait those three years under an imperfect agreement, we believe this is what we must do. We think that a public statement should be made by SAG recognizing that although this is not a deal we want, it is simply not a time when our union wants to have any part in creating more economic hardship while so many people are already suffering.

Let's take the high road. Let's unite with our brothers and sisters in the entertainment community and prepare for the future, three years down the line. Then, together, let's make a great deal.

Sincerely,

Alan Alda

Jason Alexander

Dave Annable

René Auberjonois

Diane Baker

Bob Balaban

Alec Baldwin

William Baldwin.

Barbara Beck

Ed Begley, Jr

Maria Bello

Barbara Bosson

Bruce Boxleitner

Josh Brolin

Pierce Brosnan

David Boreanaz

Blair Brown

Lizzy Caplan

Jennifer Carpenter

Steve Carrell

Mark Cassen

Erika Christensen

George Clooney

Glenn Close

Scott Cohen

Jack Coleman

Stephen Collins

Peter Coyote

James Cromwell

Billy Crystal

Matt Damon

Ted Danson

James Darren

Bruce Davison

James Denton

Brian Dennehy

Danny DeVito

Cameron Diaz

Garret Dillahunt

Larry Dorf

Minnie Driver

Olympia Dukakis

Patty Duke

Charles S. Dutton.

Shelley Fabares

Bill Fagerbakke

Mike Farrell

Sally Field

Kate Flannery

Morgan Freeman

Jennifer Garner

Teri Garr

Melissa Gilbert

Sara Gilbert

John Goodman

Christopher Gorham

Heather Graham

Kelsey Grammer

Jennifer Grey

Michael Gross

Christopher Guest

Annabelle Gurwitch

Michael C. Hall

Tom Hanks

Tess Harper

Mariette Hartley

Ed Helms

Marilu Henner

Cheryl Hines

Felicity Huffman

Helen Hunt

Jeremy Irons

Kathryn Joosten

Carol Kane

Diane Keaton

Jamie Kennedy

Mimi Kennedy

TR Knight

Sarah Knowlton

John Krasinski

Diane Lane

Michele Lee

Lucy Liu

Rob Lowe

Tobey Maguire

Janel Maloney

Camryn Manheim

Marlee Matlin

Melanie Mayron

Andrew McCarthy

Mary McCormack

Chris McDonald

Neal McDonough

Rob McElhenney

Ewan McGregor

Eva Mendes

Debra Messing

Helen Mirren

James Naughton

Edward Norton

Michael Nouri

Gail O'Grady

Kaitlin Olson

Sam Page

Eva Longoria Parker

Adrian Pasdar

Steve Pasquale

Rhea Perlman

Jaimie Pressley

Jason Ritter

John Saxon

William Schallert

Adam Scott

Tony Shalhoub

Armin Shimerman

Christian Slater

Kevin Spacey

Jerry Sroka

Mary Steenburgen

Marcia Strassman

Brenda Strong

Donald Sutherland

Kitty Swink

David Tadman

Jeffrey Tambor

Charlize Theron

Ally Walker

Tracey Walter

Belinda Waymouth

Bradley Whitford.

Lee Wilkoff

Brian Wimmer

Kevin Zegers

Louis Zoric