Here is a story about negotiations involving the television industry and the Screen Actors Guild. Apparently, these negotiations relating to the current contract, which is expiring June 30th, aren't proceeding well, and there's a chance union members (actors) will be walking off their sets this Summer.
I shake my head at shit like this, I really do, and it makes me lose respect for people I otherwise admire for participating in it.
While I understand that there was a time when unions were necessary to protect the rights of workers in our country, I find the bullying tactics of modern unions distasteful. Particularly when it comes to actors, who make more money for doing less than probably any other professionals (and I'm not sure that's the appropriate term given that it doesn't take a degree or proficiency of any kind to perform onscreen) in our workforce.
They make huge, obscenely huge, amounts of money for reciting words with a camera pointed at them. It's not like the conditions are hideous. They're treated like royalty. We're talking about Hollywood, here! Maybe there are certain people in the industry who actually have an axe to grind, members of the crew perhaps, who get paid a pittance compared to the inflated salaries afforded to the stars of any given production.
But actors? Are they kidding? Who in our country has it better than they do?
Not only do they get paid well, salary wise, they also receive per diems for their days on the set. During a talk he gave to universities, captured on a DVD called An Evening with Kevin Smith, Kevin Smith said he and Jason Mews received $300 as a per diem for one day of filming on a movie for which they did cameo appearances.
Three hundred dollars! And again, that's in addition to salary, plus meals are already provided for actors on the set. The per diem money is for whatever else their hearts might desire.
And they want to strike because...of what, exactly?
I felt the same way about the writer's strike that ended in February, even being a writer myself. There are definitely issues that are worth striking over. Actors don't face any of them, and neither do writers in the entertainment industry.
An interesting example: what if the actors and writers of our entertainment industry went on strike until the American troops were all brought home from Iraq? What if they all, every last one of them, refused to write a line, refused to recite a line, refused to appear on camera at all until every single father, mother, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, sister and brother currently serving in Iraq were brought home, for good?
What if they all refused to work until the Patriot Act was repealed? What if they all went on strike until gay marriage was allowed? What if they all refused to work until the atrocities in Africa were stopped?
These are things worth striking for. More money for actors?
Not so much.
Copyright 2008 Melissa LaFavers