LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Nearing a referendum on the proposed merger of the Screen Actors Guild with its sister union, AFTRA, foes of the plan staged a rally on Wednesday to counter the ongoing informational campaign of those favoring consolidation.þþHoisting signs with such slogans as ``Merger: Same Pig Different Lipstick'' and ``This Merger Stinks!,'' about 100 protesters from the SaveSAG opposition group walked a picket line outside SAG headquarters, calling on fellow members to vote no in the upcoming referendum.þþThe merger plan would create a new umbrella union, called the Alliance of International Media Artists, consisting of three largely autonomous branches representing actors, broadcast talent and recording artists.þþAdvocates say the merger of SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio artists would give the two unions more clout in labor talks with big media conglomerates that control much of the film, TV and radio industry.þþSaveSAG insists the consolidation plan will result in a loss of direct fiscal control over SAG's budget and offers no clear road map to whether and how the pension and health plans will be merged.þþ``This is a bad deal, and we are here to reflect that and tell you about that,'' said SAG recording-secretary Elliott Gould, who led off a string of speakers, including board member Frances Fisher, treasurer Kent McCord, former president William Daniels and organizer Mark Carlton.þþMcCord, reading an opinion from attorney Arthur Fox requested by consolidation opponents, said: ``SAG membership's control over its destiny will be diluted only by the AFTRA membership and their competing interests.''þþDaniels read statements of several former SAG presidents, including Kathleen Nolan, Howard Keel, Ed Asner and Charlton Heston. ``I have long fought against this issue and continue to do so,'' according to Heston. ``I wish you well in the struggle.''þþMerger foes also have accused SAG leadership of attempting to silence the opposition argument by refusing to include a minority report in the referendum even though the traditionally required 25 percent threshold of board opposition was not met.þþSAG officials insisted the merger proposal was crafted with input from all sides.þþ``The consolidation plan was created and drafted by a large committee of SAG and AFTRA members as well as hundreds of e-mails, telephone calls and correspondence from various members of both unions,'' SAG spokeswoman Ilyanne Kichaven said.þþThe hourlong rally climaxed with the arrival of a 15-by-15 ``Vote No'' banner pulled curbside by a truck.þþ``We haven't got the reach of our union, which has spent $1.7 million,'' former SAG presidential candidate Valerie Harper said. ``But we will take the billboard to the working actors. If you don't know, vote no!''þþ``That is the most demeaning thing you can say about the members of these two unions,'' said SAG president Melissa Gilbert, who along with a handful of SAG and AFTRA board members held a news conference of their own inside SAG headquarters, eight floors above the sidewalk rally. Gilbert expressed confidence that once educated, members would vote yes.þþAs for the pension and health issue, proponent and former president Barry Gordon said, ``We cannot control pension and health whether we merge or not. Until we consolidate, we cannot take Step 1'' toward merging the pension and health plans.þþBallots in the referendum will be mailed out Monday.þþ
Source: NY Times
