Why I'm Voting "No" on the SAG-AFTRA Merger Part 3

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Saturday March 03, 2012 · 5:04 PM PST

2012/03/03 · 17:04

[ed. note: third in a series by actor/blogger Gil Christner]

There is yet another very big problem I have with the current proposal to merge SAG and AFTRA, the two national performers unions. Mainly, the actual, finalize merger proposal does absolutely nothing to address, let alone resolve, any of the problems the merger itself was touted as the only solution for.

The grand idea of all actors working under the same contract is, at this point in time (ie, while voting to merge) nothing more than that: a grand idea. NO outline, plan or study to address what that contract could be, or when it will take effect or how we will achieve it, is in existence. “One Contract” doesn’t even exist on paper. The Pro-Merger contingent seems to advise “Let’s merge into a brand new union, then we’ll figure out how to merge into a brand new union!”

skippy

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Wednesday February 29, 2012 · 8:26 AM PST

2012/02/29 · 08:26

[Part 2 of a series by Gil Christner, a blogger over at Skippy International. Part 1 can be found here]

There are other reasons that I am hesitant to vote yes on this current merger proposal. To be honest, the biggest of these other reasons is purely selfish: I want my pension! (and I’d like to keep the Screen Actors Guild-Producers Health Plan, one of the premiere health insurance plans in the country!)

There is no literal way to know one way or the other how the merging of the two separate health and pension plans of the two unions would play out (unless you know Dr. Who or Bill & Ted). However, one can make educated guesses, based on current and past realities. The Pro-Merger contingent argues that a combined merger, and by implication, a combined health and pension plan, would be obviously stronger. But there many many experts that would take exception to that vague idea, or at least raise some alarm bells about taking it as fact.

skippy

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Tuesday February 28, 2012 · 10:19 AM PST

2012/02/28 · 10:19

[ed. note: this post is by Gil Christner, one of the founding editors of Skippy International. He is a working member of both performers unions and active in SAG Union politics.]

I did my first Screen Actors Guild job in 1979 when I had one line in "More American Graffiti.” I played a hippie in a commune who refused Candy Clark’s plea for money to bail her boyfriend out of jail. I remember the line well: “He still owes me 50 for that key I fronted him.” What Acting! Bravo!

I joined AFTRA a couple of years later when I did a commercial under that contract. So I have been a proud dues-paying member of both performers’ unions for over 30 years. And I must say that both Unions have done well by me; I have made a living under SAG contracts for nearly 20 years (not to mention the great health benefits I got and the Pension I am getting), and AFTRA was instrumental in recovering money from a producer who used tape of me in a TV show without my knowledge or permission. I am glad to be a member of both esteemed organizations.

Yet I am voting “No” (two times…one ballot per union) on the current SAG-AFTRA merger proposal. Now, make no mistake, I am definitely NOT against the merger of the two unions in theory. But there are many many reasons why I think this specific proposal is not only bad for the Screen Actors Guild members, but bad for Middle Class Actors all across the country as well.

skippy

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Wednesday April 27, 2011 · 7:54 PM PDT

2011/04/27 · 19:54

i'll admit it: this diary is stupid. it's derivative, it's condescending, and worst of all, it adds nothing to the calm, reasoned discourse that is daily kos. i can't believe that anyone would expect me to enjoy this diary, just because i wrote it myself.

first of all, my user id is low, probably lower than donald trump's believability. that doesn't mean anything, except that i've been around longer than all of you combined. this, apparently, is dkos4. damn, i didn't even know there was dkos2 or 3. but what does that have to do with my diary? let me put it this way: i know who marisacat is. i remember maryscott o'connor and booman. those were the days. not like now, when people expect to get front-paged just by writing good. you kids get off of my blog!

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beck's "take back our victimhood" rally draws 87,000

skippy

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Saturday August 28, 2010 · 6:07 PM PDT

2010/08/28 · 18:07

cbs puts the "take back our victimhood" rally numbers @ 87,000, which is impressive when seen from the air.

skippy

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Wednesday March 03, 2010 · 5:17 PM PST

2010/03/03 · 17:17

this is the saddest news we have had to report in a long, long time.

the blogger who was known as jon swift has passed away far too soon. his mother posted this message on the comments on his blog:

i don't know how else to tell you all who love this blog. i am jon swift's mom and i guess i'm going to out him. he was al weisel, my beloved son. al was on his way to his father's funeral in va when he suffered 2 aortic aneurysms, a leaky aortic valve and an aortic artery dissection from his heart to his pelvis.

skippy

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Saturday October 10, 2009 · 10:41 AM PDT

2009/10/10 · 10:41

A Skippy Musing...

cross-posted at skippy and a veritable cornucopia of other community blogs.

The conservative mindset, by nature (perhaps even by definition) strives for hegemony of political thought, preferably (or perhaps, "only") thought which adheres to their conservative viewpoint.

In the Right's mindset, disagreement equals disrespect. There is no room for opposing viewpoints without treason. Any deviation from that viewpoint is considered, well, deviant, and must be erased from the discussion. Witness the Dixie Chicks, Cindy Sheehan, and Michael Moore.

Of course in reality, there is no such thing as complete hegemony of political thought. The progressive left kept speaking up, and inserting their viewpoints into the national discussion. This made the Right quite upset.

skippy

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Saturday February 28, 2009 · 10:18 AM PST

2009/02/28 · 10:18

via the dispassionate liberal (on twitter of all places) we find out that the sudden populist "tea party" movement that has literally dozens of followers across the united states, is neither sudden nor populist. from exiled online:

within hours of santelli’s rant, a website called chicagoteaparty.com sprang to life. essentially inactive until that day, it now featured a youtube video of santelli’s "tea party" rant and billed itself as the official home of the chicago tea party. the domain was registered in august, 2008 by zack christenson, a dweeby twitter republican and producer for a popular chicago rightwing radio host milt rosenberg—a familiar name to obama campaign people.

skippy

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Wednesday January 07, 2009 · 12:45 PM PST

2009/01/07 · 12:45

sorry to vote whore like this, but my blog is up for a 2008 weblog award in the large blog 301 - 500 authority category

whatever the hell that means.

i usually wouldn't be so tasteless to beg for votes here (oh, hell, yes i would), but this category has both rightist and leftist blogs eligible.

and at this moment, the abhorrent rightist blog, jammie wearing fool, is ahead of the closest lefty blog by more than 500 votes!

skippy

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday December 03, 2008 · 10:00 AM PST

2008/12/03 · 10:00

even if skippy’s blog was eligible to win an oscar for best snark, we very most probably would not show up to accept it in february.

not because we wouldn't be happy and proud to receive it. but because, more likely than not, there will be no oscar telecast next year, due to the actors' strike.