Blacklisted?

[RHJunior]

I'm sure that the SAG has all sorts of provisions to "protect the actors."

This doesn't change the fact they are little better than criminals. They use thuggish coercion to force all actors-- and all movie and tv producers-- to go through them, and blacklist anyone who crosses them or tries to go around them... and if you don't think that they use those policies to punish anyone in the industry of an "unprogressive" ideology, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

They have something that's supposed to be illegal in the United States--- <I>a monopoly.</i>

And I got another bridge I'll sell you in San Francisco if you think the SAG isn't a complete pit of corruption and illegal activity too. in the three and a half decades I've been on this planet, I have not heard of one--- not one!--- union that wasn't a den of thieves and whores.

This is utterly unsurprising. Why? Because <I>Unions are a concerted effort by a group of people to violate other people's right of freedom of association... through intimidation, coercion, and unfair agreements signed under duress.</i> When you start with such a foundation of immorality, you will inevitably build an edifice of crime, corruption, and thuggery.


And don't talk to me about how much good the unions did "way back when." People who talk about "all the good things the unions did back in the beginning" are priding themselves on the fact that they broke down one immoral enterprise by building another.... and an even worse one, at that. Many tycoons of the past may have done poorly by their employees, but the Unions do poorly by EVERYONE... the company, the customers, the industry, the economy as a whole, the government they try to manipulate..... even the employees they claim to protect.

Nip ISN'T in the SAG. If his pa was like mine, he spent his childhood listening to his pa talk about how he'd been harassed, cheated, and even shut out of jobs by unions, and just how crooked those institutions are.... and, for good or ill, decided to spit in the SAG's eye and work around them. He'll have to fight for every paying gig he gets, his career may be shaky and tenuous, and he might never make it big with the unions standing in his way--- but he won't have to ever tell his Pa he worked with "one of those @#$% unions."

[SolidusRaccoon]

Good point Ralph, and here are some more.

I love it when fools scream that unions stopped children working in factories, it wasn't because the unions felt child labor was wrong, it was because they hated the competition. And also look how unions fought tooth and nail against blacks and other minorities in the workplace. Oh and they fought against women also. So much for union "brudderhood"

[LoneWolf23k]

Unions are now a completly outdated concept. I, personally, have never been part of a Union, nor have I ever needed a Union to protect my rights as a worker.

When I got fed up with how I was treated at my first job (at Burger King), I resigned and went looking for work elsewhere. And after bouncing around temporary jobs at some factories, I found a new job working as a dishwasher in another restaurant where I'm treated very well.

We now live in a world where anyone with a legitimate grievance can see their employer and, as long as they have proof of the grievance, at least settle out of court for a decent amount of money. The age of Employers being able to exploit their laborers is no more...

...At least here in North America. Sadly, many companies now employ workers in third world countries with neither Unions NOR Worker-protection laws. But do Unions move to try and save those poor abused third world workers? Nope.

[Jaydub]

LoneWolf23k Wrote:

...At least here in North America. Sadly, many companies now employ workers in third world countries with neither Unions NOR Worker-protection laws. But do Unions move to try and save those poor abused third world workers? Nope.

What a great Idea. Let's export all our unions to third world countries. They might be able to help there and we would be rid of them.

[Chaser617]

My problem is that NEA is pushing for a low to require membership in it before teachers (any teachers) can be given their teaching certificate.

[Jaydub]

My problem is that NEA is pushing for a low to require membership in it before teachers (any teachers) can be given their teaching certificate.

Just another way for they to hold control over their membership.

I guess they want teachers to join when they are still in college!

[Chaser617]

ACtually yes, they do, also most the time.

I really hate to say it but its a no win senario for a lot of us, we can't afford the legal representation that NEA provides us as members. But the vast majority of those who are NEA do NOT agree with the leadership.

[Namrepus221]

I'm guessing you guys don't think too highly about people that work in the entertainment industry given the highly unionized set up they run (I'm a Television Production major in college with aspirations of working behind the camera for TV or Film in any form I can get and more than likely any job that covers is "union")

[Wallaroo_Blacke]

Eschew the SAG.

If the Screen Actors' Guild likes playing by their
own rules... I makes me want to NOT become an
animation artist for folks like that... I don't want their
dirty mitts on my artwork... you'd agree with me there,
RHJunior. If the everyone found out what that director
was up to, he WOULD be run out on
a rail... and the town would sue him so badly, he'd swear
he was butchered, gutted, and made into sausages.

Heh-heh-heh-heh.

[Sharuuk]

Seems that I may have gotten it right.....wonder how many more of the cast and crew have been blacklisted and are forced to work for this goon?

S'aaruuk

[The JAM]

Wait....Mr. Director hired NIP, a NON-UNION actor? [plots evilly...]

[RHJunior]

...At least here in North America. Sadly, many companies now employ workers in third world countries with neither Unions NOR Worker-protection laws. But do Unions move to try and save those poor abused third world workers? Nope.

Do keep in mind that those "poor exploited workers" are practically climbing over top of one another to get one of those "terrible" non union jobs.... because they're paid and treated better in those jobs than anywhere else in their benighted countries.

[Sharuuk]

Wait....Mr. Director hired NIP, a NON-UNION actor? [plots evilly...]

As well as Ruth, Hikaru and who knows how many others.....(plots additional nastiness )

[Wallaroo_Blacke]

Wait....Mr. Director hired NIP, a NON-UNION actor? [plots evilly...]

As well as Ruth, Hikaru and who knows how many others.....(plots additional nastiness )

In fact, the ENTIRE CAST is non-union... MUhahahahaha!

That pig's going to the slaughterhouse!!!

[JakeWasHere]

If Fatass is supposed to be the Nip+Tuck universe's representation of whom I THINK he is... then the mere fact of his running a non-union shop makes him a hypocrite; his real-world equivalent has held for years to a belief that unions are and have been a GOOD thing, always providing (selective) evidence to back it up.

But then again, I already KNOW the guy's a hypocrite; his publicly available financial records show that he hasn't donated to a political campaign or charity since the late '90s and that he has owned several million dollars worth of stocks, despite his statements that he DOESN'T participate in the stock market and that he donates his public-appearance and lecture fees to worthy (leftist) causes.

So what is Fatass's real name in the N+T universe? RH hasn't answered that... Mike Morton perhaps?

http://www.moorewatch.com/

[The JAM]

By the way, great comission work, Ralph!

[Jwrebholz]

A union may begin with the best of intentions, but as is often said "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions".

Unions are destroying this country. You need look no further than the United Auto Workers union. What's this union costing this country?

Over the next several years the UAW is going to cost over 50,000 US jobs from plant closings by the major US automakers. These plants are being closed because the companies that operate them are no longer profitable. They are no longer profitable because they have to tack on $2,000 to the cost of every new car they build to pay for union-related costs. The UAW negotiated, and got, free lifetime healthcare for all union employees, ridiculously inflated salaries ($65/hour to sweep the floor! $50/hour to mow the lawn!), and a "Job Bank" that pays employees to NOT WORK. Instead of idling a plant to avoid overproduction, they have to keep running and flood the market--then lay thousands of bucks in cash on the hood of those new cars just to get them off the lots. (THIS is why the resale value of American cars is so piss-poor)

In 2007 the contract will be up for re-negotiation. The unions are going to hold to the status quo--which is clearly no longer viable. The companies will demand a more reasonable contract (across-the-board pay cuts for all workers, begin paying into healthcare costs, reduced pensions). The UAW is expected to balk. Then strike. When that happens Ford and GM will all but shut down since ALL their US and Canadian factories are UNION SHOPS (and despite what you've heard, Ford and GM STILL build most of their stuff in the USA). Once this happens what's left of the American automakers will close their doors for good, because there's no way that in their financial condition, they can survive the PR nightmare a strike would cause. (Believe it or not, a large portion of the country is still very sympathetic to the unions, and moving against a union is still viewed as being "unfair to the working man". This view is mostly held by people who can't get their facts straight--mostly moderate to extreme leftists who don't buy American cars anyway for the most part)

Yeah, that's kind of a doomsday scenario, but it's closer to the truth than many want to admit.

[Sharuuk]

Wait....Mr. Director hired NIP, a NON-UNION actor? [plots evilly...]

As well as Ruth, Hikaru and who knows how many others.....(plots additional nastiness )

In fact, the ENTIRE CAST is non-union... MUhahahahaha!

That pig's going to the slaughterhouse!!!

I just thought of something no one seems to have considered.......if Director Lardbutt is doing an INDIE film in Malarky Co.......he doesn't need SAG "approval" for his cast or crew.

Unless I'm badly mistaken...the fact that SAG has no control over actors in indie type films is what makes them attractive to so many.....and why they're called 'Independent'.

Anyone here have any more info on this aspect of Hollywierd politics?

S'aaruuk

[Chaser617]

A union may begin with the best of intentions, but as is often said "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions".

Unions are destroying this country. You need look no further than the United Auto Workers union. What's this union costing this country?

Over the next several years the UAW is going to cost over 50,000 US jobs from plant closings by the major US automakers. These plants are being closed because the companies that operate them are no longer profitable. They are no longer profitable because they have to tack on $2,000 to the cost of every new car they build to pay for union-related costs. The UAW negotiated, and got, free lifetime healthcare for all union employees, ridiculously inflated salaries ($65/hour to sweep the floor! $50/hour to mow the lawn!), and a "Job Bank" that pays employees to NOT WORK. Instead of idling a plant to avoid overproduction, they have to keep running and flood the market--then lay thousands of bucks in cash on the hood of those new cars just to get them off the lots. (THIS is why the resale value of American cars is so piss-poor)

In 2007 the contract will be up for re-negotiation. The unions are going to hold to the status quo--which is clearly no longer viable. The companies will demand a more reasonable contract (across-the-board pay cuts for all workers, begin paying into healthcare costs, reduced pensions). The UAW is expected to balk. Then strike. When that happens Ford and GM will all but shut down since ALL their US and Canadian factories are UNION SHOPS (and despite what you've heard, Ford and GM STILL build most of their stuff in the USA). Once this happens what's left of the American automakers will close their doors for good, because there's no way that in their financial condition, they can survive the PR nightmare a strike would cause. (Believe it or not, a large portion of the country is still very sympathetic to the unions, and moving against a union is still viewed as being "unfair to the working man". This view is mostly held by people who can't get their facts straight--mostly moderate to extreme leftists who don't buy American cars anyway for the most part)

Yeah, that's kind of a doomsday scenario, but it's closer to the truth than many want to admit.

There is a silver lining to all this, forgein (mostly asian) companies that have built plants here in the states will most likely continue to opperate, and we may see even more in the future, because these are non-UAW.

As an example, very close to home for me, is the Toyota Georgetown Plant here in G-Town Ky, about a 45 minute drive from my home. It recently was announced that this plant is expanding to include the new Camrey Hybrid, and maybe even get a share of the new Supra Sportscar production. Its a non-UAW shop, its run under the Japanese model, which surprisingly though the workers are payed less than UAW there seem to be more attractive to workers. Over the past five years, UAW has tried five times to unionize the plant and has failed miserably each and every time, the workers simply refuse to do it, yet they make a great living, Toyota, while not paying 65 bucks an hour, pays a very good salary and love their working conditions. I've heard some say that even with inflated salaries that if TGP unionized the workers would actually be making less money because of dues and other UAW 'mandatory donations.'

[Squeaky Bunny]

Kinda makes you think that soon the acronym UAW will be standing for U ain't workin'

When I was still living in Flint, MI (home of the auto union and Michael 'the Hutt' Moore) There was a non-union grocery store chain. The local grocery workers union decided to boycott it because it was making them look bad in front of their union brothers.

The funny thing was that they had to run an ad in the newspaper to hire people for the "boycott" because they couldn't get their own members to do it. I knew several students who made good money by 'walking the line'.