Screen Actors Guild’s Strike Rift
The Screen Actors Guild’s website has posted a list of performers who are willing to go through with a strike vote come next January. The list includes Ed Harris, Ed Asner, Martin Sheen, Holly Hunter, Diane Ladd, Elliott Gould, Valerie Harper, and Sandra Oh.
Their statement reads:
"I support the Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors request for members to vote YES to empower the National Board to decide whether to call a TV/Theatrical contract strike, and if so, determine its timeframe.
"We must arm our negotiating committee with the collective unity and strength of the Screen Actors Guild Members."
The initial signers were (the list now has more than 1,000 signatures):
| Anthony Anderson Ed Asner Scott Bakula Justine Bateman Tony Lo Bianco Eric Bogosian Clancy Brown Candace Cameron Bure Dixie Carter George Coe Mindy Cohn Patti D’Arbanville Laura Dern Anne DeSalvo Frances Fisher Scott Foley Mo Gaffney Mel Gibson Sharon Gless |
Brian Goodman Elliot Gould Larry Hagman Valerie Harper Ed Harris Robert Hays John Heard Hal Holbrook Holly Hunter Anne-Marie Johnson Lainie Kazan Diane Ladd Piper Laurie Angus MacFayden William Mapother Mary Stuart Masterson Kent McCord Joanna Miles Matthew Modine |
Rob Morrow Barbara Niven Jerry O’Connell Sandra Oh Joyce Van Patten Harold Perrineau Alan Rosenberg Alan Ruck William Russ Charles Shaughnessy Martin Sheen Nancy Sinatra Jeremy Sisto Connie Stevens Renee Taylor Ted Wass Chandra Wilson Scott Wilson Alicia Witt |
Among those listed in opposition of the call for a strike in the midst of a severe economic recession are Matt Damon, Diane Keaton, Diane Lane, Diane Baker, Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson, Tobey Maguire, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Cameron Diaz, Brian Dennehy, Felicity Huffman, Ewan McGregor, and Helen Hunt.
Below is their petition (originally a letter sent by Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman):
"We feel very strongly that SAG members should not vote to authorize a strike at this time. We don’t think that an authorization can be looked at as merely a bargaining tool. It must be looked at as what it is—an agreement to strike if negotiations fail.
"We support our union and we support the issues we’re fighting for, but we do not believe in all good conscience that now is the time to be putting people out of work.
"None of our friends in the other unions are truly happy with the deals they made in their negotiations. Three years from now all the union contracts will be up again at roughly the same time. At that point if we plan and work together with our sister unions we will have incredible leverage.
"As hard as it may be to wait those three years under an imperfect agreement, we believe this is what we must do. We think that a public statement should be made by SAG recognizing that although this is not a deal we want, it is simply not a time when our union wants to have any part in creating more economic hardship while so many people are already suffering.
"Let’s take the high road. Let’s unite with our brothers and sisters in the entertainment community and prepare for the future, three years down the line. Then, together, let’s make a great deal."
| Alan Alda | James Denton | Marilu Henner | Michael Nouri |
| Jason Alexander | Brian Dennehy | Cheryl Hines | Gail O’Grady |
| Dave Annable | Danny DeVito | Felicity Huffman | Kaitlin Olson |
| René Auberjonois | Cameron Diaz | Helen Hunt | Sam Page |
| Diane Baker | Garret Dillahunt | Jeremy Irons | Eva Longoria Parker |
| Bob Balaban | Larry Dorf | Kathryn Joosten | Adrian Pasdar |
| Alec Baldwin | Minnie Driver | Carol Kane | Steve Pasquale |
| William Baldwin | Olympia Dukakis | Diane Keaton | Rhea Perlman |
| Barbara Beck | Patty Duke | Jamie Kennedy | Jaimie Pressley |
| Ed Begley, Jr | Charles S. Dutton | Mimi Kennedy | Jason Ritter |
| Maria Bello | Shelley Fabares | TR Knight | John Saxon |
| Barbara Bosson | Bill Fagerbakke | Sarah Knowlton | William Schallert |
| Bruce Boxleitner | Mike Farrell | John Krasinski | Adam Scott |
| Josh Brolin | Sally Field | Diane Lane | Tony Shalhoub |
| Pierce Brosnan | Kate Flannery | Michele Lee | Armin Shimerman |
| David Boreanaz | Morgan Freeman | Lucy Liu | Christian Slater |
| Blair Brown | Jennifer Garner | Rob Lowe | Kevin Spacey |
| Lizzy Caplan | Teri Garr | Tobey Maguire | Jerry Sroka |
| Jennifer Carpenter | Melissa Gilbert | Janel Maloney | Mary Steenburgen |
| Steve Carrell | Sara Gilbert | Camryn Manheim | Marcia Strassman |
| Mark Cassen | John Goodman | Marlee Matlin | Brenda Strong |
| Erika Christensen | Christopher Gorham | Melanie Mayron | Donald Sutherland |
| George Clooney | Heather Graham | Andrew McCarthy | Kitty Swink |
| Glenn Close | Kelsey Grammer | Mary McCormack | David Tadman |
| Scott Cohen | Jennifer Grey | Chris McDonald | Jeffrey Tambor |
| Jack Coleman | Michael Gross | Neal McDonough | Charlize Theron |
| Stephen Collins | Christopher Guest | Rob McElhenney | Ally Walker |
| Peter Coyote | Annabelle Gurwitch | Ewan McGregor | Tracey Walter |
| James Cromwell | Michael C. Hall | Eva Mendes | Belinda Waymouth |
| Billy Crystal | Tom Hanks | Debra Messing | Bradley Whitford |
| Matt Damon | Tess Harper | Helen Mirren | Lee Wilkoff |
| Ted Danson | Mariette Hartley | James Naughton | Brian Wimmer |
| James Darren | Ed Helms | Edward Norton | Kevin Zegers |
| Bruce Davison | Louis Zoric |
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