BOARD VOTES TO INCREASE SAG DUES UNION IN RED, LEADERS CLAIM.Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer Board members of the Screen Actors Guild overwhelmingly voted in favor of increasing membership dues and initiation fees to improve the ailing union's financial standing. About 80 percent of the board supported the increase in a vote tallied this weekend. Ballots are expected to reach SAG (1) A momentary drop in voltage from the power source. Contrast with spike. (2) (SAG) (SQL Access Group) See CLI. members by mail shortly after May 7. If the increase were approved, annual SAG membership dues would increase to $130 from $100 and initiation fees would rise to $2,085 from $1,356. The union also plans to increase dues on earnings up to $200,000 by 0.10 percent, to 1.95 percent. Members earning more than $200,000 annually would face an increase in work dues of 1 percent, up from 0.5 percent. The changes are expected to help the union generate about $7.3 million in annual revenues. Ballots are due back May 27. ``The dues increase will enable us to operate with a cash reserve that will take us out of the red immediately,'' said Seth Oster, a SAG spokesman, who was unable to quantify the union's shortfall. As SAG prepares for fall negotiations with producers, stronger revenue streams could improve the union's bargaining power. Oster said the union, with 120,000 working members, was attempting to increase pension and health care funding, modernize neglected infrastructure and enable members to track residuals more thoroughly. Others perceive the dues' increase as a method to weed out less-active members, and eventually improve the union's ability to merge with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is a performers' union that represents a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, as well as radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists (both royalty . ``SAG may have a hidden agenda as the union struggles with internal problems,'' said Daniel J.B. Mitchell, professor of management and public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. . ``SAG wanted to merge with AFTRA AFTRA American Federation of Television & Radio Artists , but there are a lot of peripheral members who work a little bit and may have voted against it. If they (SAG leaders) raise the dues, maybe some of those peripheral people would drop off.'' Regardless of the union's intentions, SAG contends that it has been operating in the red Operating in the red Doing business while losing money. for at least a decade. At the same time, SAG members haven't seen a jump in dues for almost five years, with the previous increase in 1987. ``I think as long as the extra money is being used to improve SAG's infrastructure, and they are not using it to hire a marketing firm to sell the union, then there is a plus side to the increase in dues,'' said SAG member Kent McCord Kent McCord (born September 26, 1942) is an American actor. McCord was born Kent Franklin McWhirter in Los Angeles, California. Using the stage name Kent McCord, he first appeared on television in 1962 as a guest on The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. , an outspoken critic of the current leadership. ``The issue here is creating the kind of fiscal needs that should be dedicated to member services.'' Ruth Milkman Ruth Milkman is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she is also director of the UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations. Education and career Milkman obtained a bachelor's degree in 1975 from Brown University. , director of the Center for Labor Research and Education at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , said a union's decision to raise membership fees is only effective if the organization details where the money is going. ``There really needs to be a clear justification, and it needs to be something that members care about. And I'm not sure if that's the case here,'' Milkman said. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. SAG, the increase in dues is part of the organization's overall effort to strengthen its advocacy clout. To do that, the board voted in favor of financing a public awareness campaign jointly with AFTRA. The campaign would arrive in advance of fall negotiations on a new three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. SAG board members also passed a unanimous resolution to support the Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is a term often referring to the joint efforts of the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, west. Jointly, the two guilds act as the collective bargaining representative, or labor union, for writers in the motion picture and , which is currently engaged in contract negotiations with producers. Evan Pondel, (818) 713-3662 evan.pondel(at)dailynews.com |
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