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SAG members nix merger with AFTRA

by Carl Biers

Officers of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists campaigned hard among their respective memberships for a merger of the two unions. AFTRA members approved the merger three to one. But despite a lopsided and heavy-handed campaign by the SAG leadership, when the count was in on July 2, approval of the merger fell 2% short of the 60% required by the SAG constitution. And so, although 33,626 voted for and 24,550 against, the merger went down to defeat.

Even though a SAG majority voted for unity, the inability of the SAG leadership to convince the necessary 60% was a signal failure and a victory for merger opponents, who, with limited resources, were able to muster enough votes to defeat the proposal.

Supporters claimed the merger would unite actors, but many of SAG's 73,000 plus members feared their union funds, pensions and bargaining power would be diluted by merging with the 63,000-member AFTRA. SAG represents actors in film, commercials and prime-time TV shows, while AFTRA represents recording artists, TV and radio broadcasters, and daytime TV actors.

The referendum process in SAG offers a stark example of the overwhelming advantages enjoyed by union officials in referendums, which unlike officer elections, are not covered by the LMRDA's prohibition of officers using union resources to campaign. In referendums, the union leadership is permitted not just to campaign for their official position, but to spend liberally from the union's treasury to promote it. Erik-Anders Nilsson, an opponent of the merger, estimates that SAG spent over $2 million on the campaign which included hiring a P.R. firm to conduct telemarketing style campaign calls, and several rounds of mailings and e-mailings. SAG leaders included pro-merger statements in almost every piece of official correspondence sent to members over a several month period before and during the June voting. Even the merger ballot itself and mailings of members' residual paychecks, which SAG distributes, included pro-merger propaganda.

Without access to union resources, opponents had to foot the bill themselves. A mailing to the union's 73,000 members would have cost a prohibitive $45,000. For email, the union required a payment of $3,500 - this just to click a mouse and send out a single email to the membership. But opponents, led by SAG Secretary Treasurer Kent McCord made good use of the internet. Their SaveSag website received thousands of hits, and the group was able to reach a good portion of the members through e-mail lists of its own. McCord and other merger opponents retained AUD board member/attorney Arthur Fox to assist them in their campaign and to gain greater access to the membership.

for more on incumbent advantages in elections see Union Democracy in a One-Party State, an essay by union democracy legal scholar Clyde Summers, and How to Get an Honest Union Election, by AUD founder Herman Benson.

for more on election rules and how to campaign see our questions and answers page

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