The ever-helpful, funny, talented and knowledgeable Voice Actor Bob Bergen is getting serious about serious things.

Union representation.

Doing it right.

Saying goodbye to politics-as-its-been-done-heretofore  among gifted, earnest, union-represented artists.

Read below to see his appeal for your vote, and for good common sense.

CourVO

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Subject: TO LA SAG MEMBERS

Hi all!

If you are not a SAG member in Hollywood, feel free to disregard.

If you are, please read!!

By now you all should have received your ballots for the SAG election.

PLEASE vote now!!!  And please spread the word to every fellow Hollywood SAG
member you know!

I’m running for the board on the U4S slate, and I’m asking for your vote.  I’m
#58 on the ballot.

I’ve been asked why I’m running.  I’m running because I need to at least give
this a shot.  I never want to be one of those who just complains and never tries
to do something about it.

I’m sick and tired of actor vs. actor, union vs. union.  As long as we allow a
situation where one union competes with the other we are sunk.  We are a
laughing stock.  And our rank and file is fed up!

I don’t blame them!

For several years our board room has consisted of ego and politics, clouding
any possibility of leadership and progress.  The blame game has got to stop!  It
is not them vs. us.  We are one!  The fiasco of this last theatrical contract
has hurt us all.  The current leadership at SAG looks everywhere to point blame
except the one obvious place, which is the mirror.

SAG should never have allowed AFTRA to negotiate separately.  SAG blamed
AFTRA, the studios, producers, etc., for an AFTRA ratified contract that they
found inferior.

And it was!

But good leadership, good business strategies should have been able to clearly
see that allowing a sister union to negotiate separately you risk the chance of
being undercut by an inferior contract.  A good business person does whatever it
takes to prevent this.  That takes leaders who are able to check their ego at
the door and work together for the good of all.

For 30 years we have been able to do this.  We succeeded in doing this with our
recent commercial contract.

This is a business.  As a member of SAG I think of myself as a shareholder in a
corporation called Screen Actors Guild.  And as a shareholder my CEO and  board
members failed me.  Instead of blaming the competition and the state of the
industry, the proper thing to do is analyze what THEY did wrong, not HOW they
were wronged!

Our current leadership makes decisions without playing devil’s advocate, or
having back up plans.  The rank and file was advised to turn down our agent’s
request to own studios and corporations.  We were advised that it is not good
business for our agents to also be our employers.

This I agree with!

Our agents were asking to own a percentage of corporations.  Not 100% ownership.
They wanted a partnership, a percentage.

Again, SAG advised against this.

But they had no back up plan.  So, the rank and file followed SAG’s advice.  The
result?  We have no franchise agreement with our representation.  AFTRA does,
but SAG does not.

Many years later, it’s business as usual with our agents.  They’ve realized that
they can successfully conduct business without a franchise with SAG.

They can also now have a 100% ownership of any studio or corporation if they so
desire.  Not a partial or percentage ownership, but they can own outright if
they wish.

Our current leadership had no back up plan in the event of this.  Just like they
had no back up plan in the event AFTRA negotiated a lesser theatrical deal.

We have been the victim of failed strategy, after failed strategy, after failed
strategy.

Mistakes have been made by BOTH unions!  I want to preserve our pensions, health
benefits, and residuals.  There is no way of doing this with union vs. union.

We must work together.

Bob Bergen