The Civil War rages on

It’s not enough that two actors guilds (120,000 SAG members; 70,000 AFTRA members) are about to begin critical negotiations with producers (AMPTP) on a new contract, now the infighting amongst the thespian community has reached divisive new lows. Following last week’s joint Work & Wages caucuses — created to highlight the issues that need addressing during negotiations — AFTRA representative Matt Kimbrough threatened his guild would break with the proposed April start date and begin talks with producers immediately, thus undermining SAG’s bargaining position. Sadly, this move isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s consistent with AFTRA’s well established underhanded tactics striking back room deals with individual producers to get their members more work, despite eroding the long-term security of establishing the best possible wages and benefits for union actors. It’s a sick game the two guilds have been playing with each other and it needs to stop. If the actors cannot present a unified front in these talks, everyone loses. To AFTRA president Roberta Reardon and SAG president Alan Rosenberg: Get your collective house in order, pronto! This industry can’t afford another prolonged work stoppage.