From SAG Chicago President

Todd Hissong

Democracy: A form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

That’s the way it’s supposed to work at the Screen Actors Guild. Indeed, our Constitution could not be more clear:

The National Board elected directly by the membership is the highest governing power of the Guild.

The National President of the Guild is the presiding officer of the Board. While the President may speak on behalf of the Board, he/she has no right to act outside the bounds of the policy as already determined by the Board and the Constitution.

The National Executive Director (NED) is the highest ranking member of the paid staff of the Guild. He/she also has absolutely no authority to set or act outside of the policy that has been set by the National Board and the Constitution. Under no circumstances is it acceptable for the NED to make policy on his/her own authority.

Yet, our Democracy has been subverted into something quite different.

Autocracy: Uncontrolled or unlimited authority over others invested in a single person.

Since arriving at SAG, our new NED has taken actions that have been in direct conflict with the stated policy of the union as set by the Board and the Constitution, not the least of which:

* He has asserted that SAG (you and I) want to change the method under which we have jointly negotiated contracts with AFTRA for more than 25 years. He has done so independent of any formalized direction from your National Board.

To be fair, our NED has not taken these actions without encouragement....

Star Chamber: Any tribunal, committee, or the like that proceeds by arbitrary or unfair methods.

Welcome to the land of Membership First - A political party that (for the moment) holds the majority of National Board seats in the Hollywood Division and appears to view all actors outside of Los Angeles with disdain. Their disdain is not confined to members of AFTRA, but includes the Regional Branch and New York Divisions of your Guild as well. In a stunning power grab called "unit voting" (suggested to them by none other than "our" NED) they have managed to silence the voices of both Divisions in the critical upcoming negotiations of all our major contracts. In short, only SAG Hollywood will have any say in our demands at the negotiating table. That they do so under the veil of "Majority Rule" is nothing short of obscene.

Mr. Allen must be held accountable for overstepping his authority. The Hollywood Board must be made to listen to the voices of a National Union. Do Not Let Your Voice Be Silenced. Express your outrage by contacting our NED and National President.

Doug Allen
SAG National Executive Director
dallen@sag.org

Alan Rosenberg
SAG National President
president@sag.org

Thank you for working to keep the Screen Actors Guild a National Union.

In Solidarity,

Todd Hissong

Please copy any correspondence to sagfirebird1@sbcglobal.net