Apparently SAG is also confused... (shared from other reactors)
Added 2023-07-24 01:04:54 +0000 UTCI still haven't gotten a specific response yet, but if you were wondering, these are two, COMPLETELY CONTRADICTORY answers that other reactors have received from SAG-AFTRA. The rules appear to be at the discretion of whoever answers the email, so we'll have to see how the dice lands. Regardless of what anyone else has been told, I will be going off the answer I receive directly from SAG, so that I can refer to it if necessary. Who knew it would come down to a coin toss 😭
Comments
So, I've thought about this more since your last update, and I have some thoughts. For context, I grew up in a household where my father, mother, step-father, and uncle worked for SNET, which became AT&T after a 2006 merger. The technicians have always been unionized (my mother and father), whereas the managers were not (my step-father and uncle). From a young age, I experienced multiple strikes and have both held a picket sign with my dad (a technician) and crossed the picket line with my uncle (a manager). I fully support unions and believe the collective power they provide workers is critical to a functioning workforce, and I also understand these things can quickly get messy, but I find the restrictive SAG answer to be entirely unreasonable. During the multiple SNET/AT&T strikes I experienced, no union representatives tried to assert that my parents couldn't be seen using an AT&T mobile phone in public, nor that they couldn't use a land-line; that would be equally insane to a media-production-focused union saying members could not be seen viewing media created by union members before the strike. A strike is intended to halt *active* work, not restrict access to prior completed work. I know they want to maximize pressure, but that doesn't allow them to restrict behavior outside of your professional work. I entirely understand that to protect your standing as a union member, you need to commit to whatever behavior SAG ultimately requests of you and that it is out of your control, but feel free to pass this information along internally to SAG if you feel inclined: the position that union member cannot publically view prior-created media in any compacity has, for the first time during this strike, made me second-guess SAG's position and will likely cause me to question and fact-check their public-facing assertions moving forward. I don't think that is the reaction they want from members of the public, especially hard left-leaning people like me. I remain committed to supporting the core issues I've seen regarding the strike, but I don't care for any controlling body trying to enforce something outside their control (be it government, unions, or some other body altogether). All the best to you; I look forward to your return, whenever that may be. :-)
Rob Frawley 2nd
2023-07-24 16:34:07 +0000 UTCExactly. I know there are different departments (I've already seen a general strike email, and then one directly for podcasting questions, influencers, etc), so it could be a matter of different departments giving different answers. There's just no clear directive out for reactors, so I'm hoping that emailing SAG-AFTRA myself will give me something definitive. Thank you, and I'll let you guys know as soon as I hear anything!
Movie Night
2023-07-24 09:14:32 +0000 UTCI'm curious what the actual senders of these are. I mean, I wouldn't want to see the actual emails, but I wonder if they are different contact emails or the same. I mean, I'm sure one official SAG/AFTRA email could have multiple people responding to it. But yeah, this does make it confusing. It's rough out there. Good luck!
Kevin C
2023-07-24 08:23:26 +0000 UTC
