Index

Health Care: It passed. Will we keep it?
What is "it"? It is not the legislation we supported. But it's a start. The larger question is: Will the Supreme Court deep six it? Will the Republicans de-fund it? Important as ever to us, the drama continues.....

Elections matter. And Republicans are on the attack.
Our thoughts on the status of legislative and public policy issues and the new political realities in Washington

If you beat on the door long enough and loud enough...
things start to happen. People meet. Groups connect. Plans are executed. Committments are made, some of which are actually honored. Bingo. Progress.
It comes at a price: hard work and persistence. We are proud of the leadership of our colleague, Anita Hollander. click here to get to the I AM PWD site. And to read a story in the Hollywood Reporter quoting Ms. Hollander, click here...

"A New Union for a New World"
The original letter from AFTRA leadership, many of them AftraNOW members, on the creation of a new union for a new world. What we need and why. Click here to read the entire letter.....

Holter's Latest
NY Local President Holter Graham's most recent President's Column in StandBy, "Little Things, Big Things", a tour thru the Convention and the work that continues every day at the Local while leaders meet to discuss what a new union might look like. Good reading, as always. Column is on page 3.

November update
the unions have put together a new set of FAQs. Here's a link to them. There are also posts to the AftraNOW Facebook page about the benefit plans. Read up. Questions can be submitted (see below). There is not enough staff for personal answers to every question, but every question is read and reported to the G1. A January deadline still seems a bit early, but you never know....
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Wisconsin and beyond...
Wisconsin's assault on public sector unions in the name of a balanced budget is an attack upon ALL union members, make no mistake. It stikes at the very heart of our right to have a union - public or private - and bargain for ourselves with our employers on all matters of significance to us. Click here and read more about the We Are One campaign from the AFL-CIO.

January 27th: SAG National Board Approves New Union Proposal
SAG voted to approve the G1 proposal for a new union 87% to 13%. The new union, to be called - unsurprisingly - SAG/AFTRA, will be taken up tomorrow, Jan. 28th, by the AFTRA National Board. We will have plenty to say after that vote takes place.

Questions and answers.
In a process this complicated, there will be questions that need timely answers. Our suggestions on where to go to get those answers.

"We are all from Peoria!" At Convention. we heard first-hand from the AFTRAns in Peoria about their contract fight with their station's new owner, Granite Broadcasting. Which is owned by Silver Point Partners, a hedge fund. The AFTRA station is trying to keep their local news really local, not "local" from say, Indiana. It's tough sledding. Tweet the Granite Broadcasting CEO to demand a fair deal. Then, check out their Facebook page and show some solidarity.

"You can't make this shift up: Delta Airlines"
About every ten minutes or so...OK, that's an exageration...every 20 minutes or so, we come across something that is so over the top that, even in our normally over the top business, it's - well - over the top. Today's contestant: Delta Airlines. Click for the latest WTF.

How it began...
The now duly appointed committees of AFTRA and SAG that are empowered to draft a successor union agreement met June 17-19 at the Labor College in Silver Spring, MD. Click here for the official information.

Our Convention Report
We tackled the biggest, thickest, thorniest problems we face, from digital theft and loss of income to the growth of non-union work, with fraternity, respect, intelligence and yes, frustration. More.....

"Honey, pass me the Tums."
Indiana cozys up to a "Right to Work" law, the first in the industrial heartland.. Meanwhile, we hear the same turn of phrases over and over again, like "the end of the middle class", "the middle class is under attack", "wages have been stagnant, actually dropping, for the past 30 years." Sometimes, pictures help. Or, in this case, graphs. We are posting these unapologetically without permission from various sources.

Click here for a complete list of AFTRA's contracts and their expiration dates. Also, link to news about specific contract negotiations.

It started with music. Now it's film and television. It has always been our living
What is "it"?? Content theft. Digital deletion of our residuals and earned benefits. And it is wrecking the business. The unions response: Creative America as a place to educate ourselves and to take action. Must reading: The Creative America website. Watch AftraNOW member David Basche in "Content Theft: The Big Picture". Register for updates. Then contact your legislators and urge them to support the PROTECT IP Act and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Take Action. Protect your work, your residuals, your benefits and your future employment And check out their terrific Facebook page.

Holiday Cheer!
Tentative deals on Network Code for TV and
Sound Recordings Contract
Hats off to AFTRA's Negotiating Committees and AftraNOW leadership for the union's two biggest contracts: Network Code for Television and the Sound Recordings Contract. Next stop - ratification. Click on the links or pics for further information....

The AFTRA Media and Entertainment
Excellence Awards (the AMEEs)

Supporting the AFTRA Foundation.
February 6, 2012 at the Plaza Hotel.
This year's honorees: radio legend Pete Fornatale,
singer/composer Roseanne Cash, actress Phylicia Rashad.
Click here for tickets and further information.

January Update
The Group of One (G1), the combined committees of AFTRA and SAG charged with developing a plan create a single new union has completed their work. They have a plan. Informational meeting for national board members takes place Jan. 22. Click here for the union's communication...