30,000 CWA Members Ratify Contract with AT&T—and More Bargaining News
Some 30,000 Communications Workers of America members ratify a contract with AT&T, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
CWA, AT&T: Members of Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 3 last week ratified a three-year contract with AT&T. The contract covers 30,000 workers in the Southeast. CWA District 1 in Connecticut is now the only region still in negotiations with AT&T.
International Women’s Day, March 8: Time to Recommit to Equal Rights
Women make up more than half the American workforce and are approaching half of union members. On International Women’s Day, March 8, the AFL-CIO is recommitting itself to continue the struggle for equal rights, dignity and respect for all working women.
This past week, the AFL-CIO Executive Council pointed out that much needs to be done for women workers to gain equal footing. For example, the council cites a United Nations report, which shows the majority of the world’s 1.3 billion absolute poor are women. On average, women receive between 30 percent and 40 percent less pay than men earn for the same work. Women also continue to be victims of violence, with rape and domestic violence listed as significant causes of disability and death among women worldwide.
Executive Council: Piracy Costs Good Jobs
The AFL-CIO Executive Council unanimously endorsed the entertainment industry unions’ campaign to stop the theft of intellectual property, often called piracy.
The council noted that each year, digital theft of sound recordings costs the U.S. economy $12.5 billion in total output and costs U.S. workers 71,060 jobs. Feature film piracy results in an estimated $5.5 billion in lost wages annually, and the loss of an estimated 141,030 jobs that would otherwise have been created.
The council statement said, in part:
Motion pictures, television, sound recordings and other entertainment are a vibrant part of the U.S. economy. They yield one of its few remaining trade surpluses. The online theft of copyrighted works and the sale of illegal CDs and DVDs threaten the vitality of U.S. entertainment and thus its working people.
‘Inglourious Basterds,’ Bullock and Bridges Top SAG Award Winners
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The cast of “Inglourious Basterds” took home the top honor for best performance by a cast in a motion picture as members of the Screen Actors (SAG) honored their own at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® show Sunday.
Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges won the awards for best performance by an actress and actor in a leading role for their performances in “The Blind Side” and “Crazy Heart,” respectively.
Other winners included Mo’Nique who won best performance as supporting actress for her role in “Precious” and Christoph Waltz as best supporting actor for his role in “Inglourious Basterds.”
On the TV side, Michael C. Hall (”Dexter”) and Julianna Marquiles (”The Good Wife”) were honored for their performances in a drama series and the cast of “30 Rock” took two of the three top awards in the TV comedy category, with Alec Baldwin winning best actor and Tina Fey best actress. The cast of “Glee” won the award for best ensemble. You can check out all the winners here.
For the first time, SAG honored stunt performers in TV and movies, with the stunt ensembles for the movie “Star Trek” and the “24″ TV series taking home the honors.
Betty White received the Lifetime Achievement Award, the union’s highest honor. White joins an all-star cast of previous winners, who include Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee (2000), Edward Asner (2001), Clint Eastwood (2002), Shirley Temple Black (2005), Julie Andrews (2006), Charles Durning (2007), James Earl Jones (2008).
Five SAG Lifetime Achievement Winners Featured in Film Marathon
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One night before the Screen Actors (SAG) honor Hollywood’s finest performers, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will pay tribute to five actors who won SAG’ s highest honor: the Life Achievement Award. TCM’s four-film prime-time presentation airs Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, the night before a live broadcast of the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards—the nation’s largest and only nationally televised all-union awards show.
TCM’s tribute will begin at 8 p.m. EST with the 1935 comedy short “Tit for Tat,” starring Stan Laurel, who received the Life Achievement Award in 1963. Next up, Jack Lemmon, who was honored by SAG in 1989, stars in the Neil Simon comedy “The Out-of-Towners” (1969). Sidney Poitier, honored in 1999, and Ruby Dee, honored in 2000, star in the dramatic adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun” (1961). And the night closes out with 1998 honoree Kirk Douglas in the suspenseful Western “Last Train from Gun Hill” (1959).
SAG President Joins AFL-CIO Executive Council
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The AFL-CIO Executive Council today welcomed a new member, Ken Howard, president of the Screen Actors (SAG). Howard, who was elected to lead the actor’s union in September 2009, replaces former SAG President Alan Rosenberg.
Convening for a one-day meeting in Washington, D.C., the council heard from Ron Bloom, senior counselor to President Obama for manufacturing policy and a former staff member at the United Steelworkers (USW). The council and union leaders have repeatedly called on the Obama administration to quickly enact a national industrial policy to foster and sustain growth in the nation’s manufacturing industries. Increasing our manufacturing capacity is critical as the world prepares to move toward a green economy.
Pollster Celinda Lake also shared the results of polling on the economy and the political implications of a protracted jobs crisis.
22,000 L.A. Workers Win Pact with City that Saves Jobs—and More Bargaining News
Some 22,000 Los Angeles workers win pact with city that prevents layoffs—and more bargaining news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
Multiple, City of Los Angeles: The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a pact with the Los Angeles Coalition of City Unions, a group made up of AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions and representing 22,000 city workers. The agreement avoids layoffs and furloughs and will save the city more than $77 million by offering an early retirement plan, reducing the number of hours worked and postponing pay raises until after 2011. A deal with the Los Angeles Police Protective League/IUPA also was approved Friday and will save the city $63 million.
Screen Actors to Honor Betty White
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Although best known for her role as Rose Nylund on the 1980s “Golden Girls” TV series and as Sue Ann Nivens on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Betty White has for six decades been a beloved comedienne, pioneering television producer, host, author and animal rights advocate.
Often called “America’s Sweetheart,” White has won six Emmys, including the first and only Daytime Emmy for Best Game Show Host for a woman. In 1952, she became a Hollywood pioneer when she and two colleagues formed their own production company, creating the nationally televised comedy series “Life with Elizabeth.” The series made White one of only a few women with creative control before and behind the camera in television’s early years.
Now, her colleagues and co-workers plan to honor her with the Screen Actors (SAG) Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. White will receive the award at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards—the nation’s largest and only-nationally televised all-union awards show—which premieres live on TNT and TBS Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7 p.m. CT and 6 p.m. MT. SAG represents nearly 120,000 actors in film, television, industrials, commercials and music videos.
SAG, NATCA and WGAE Elect Top Officers
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The Screen Actors (SAG) and National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) elected new leadership teams recently and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) re-elected their top officers.
Actor Ken Howard was elected as SAG’s president in a mail ballot, with results announced yesterday. Amy Aquino was elected secretary-treasurer. Howard and Aquino succeed Alan Rosenberg and Connie Stevens, respectively, and begin their two-year terms immediately.
Howard pledged to strengthen the union’s bargaining power:
“I campaigned on the promise that I’d do everything in my power to strengthen our position at the bargaining table by building a greater unity with [American Federation of Television and Radio Artists] AFTRA and the other entertainment unions, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. Despite the sharp differences that those of us active in Guild affairs sometimes have over strategy and tactics, we need to continually remind ourselves that we’re all on the same team, fighting for the same thing—and by pulling together, we’ll only grow stronger.”
NATCA chose Paul Rinaldi, an 18-year veteran air traffic controller from the control tower at Washington Dulles Airport, as president in a runoff election. Rinaldi, who has served as NATCA’s executive vice president since 2006, will take office on Oct. 17 to begin his three-year term. He will succeed Patrick Forrey.
The runoff election was held because no candidate won the required 50 percent-plus one majority in the first balloting, which was announced on July 31. NATCA Executive Vice President Patricia Gilbert won a clear majority and took office Sept. 1.
Rinaldi said he plans to make sure the nation’s air traffic controllers have a voice in the workplace:
Throughout my career, I’ve made it my mission to further the goals of this union and I’m not stopping now. We’ve had a difficult last three years, but we’ve persevered. I look forward to ensuring that our members always have a voice and, just as important, that the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] always listens.
Four Honored for Promoting Diversity in Entertainment Industry
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Committees of Actors’ Equity, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and Screen Actors (SAG) will honor four performing artists who have made important contributions to increasing diversity in their professions. The 2009 Ivy Bethune Tri-Union Diversity Awards will be presented in Los Angeles on June 29.
The awards celebrate individuals and organizations that take an active stand for diversity within the industry. This year’s theme, “Storytellers,” commends individuals who, by sharing their own stories, have encouraged cross-cultural understanding and enabled others to express their dreams and creativity.
The 2009 honorees are:
- Actor George Takei for his long-standing history of activism for artists of every race and creed, including his work with the Arts in Transit program that creates opportunity for artists within the public sector;
- Victoria Ann Lewis, writer, actor and teacher who established the Other Voices Project, which cultivates and produces writers and performers with disabilities;
- Cheryl Burke, a dancer who encourages children of all ethnicities to express themselves through movement;
- Charlie Hill, a Native American stand-up comedian and storyteller who uses humor to share elements unique to Native American culture and those we all share.
