‘The Help’ Actors Receive Top SAG Awards as Union Boards Vote to Merge
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The red-carpet glamor and prestige of the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards last night put the pre-Oscar spotlight on the cast of “The Help” in the theatrical motion picture category, with actors themselves choosing the best of the best.
“The Help” cast also was recognized with Viola Davis taking the award for best performance by a female lead and Octavia Spencer receiving the honor for best supporting female actor. Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”) was credited with best performance in a male leading role and Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”) took the award for best supporting actor. Top television performance awards went to Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Lange, Betty White and Kate Winslet, with television ensemble honors taken by “Boardwalk Empire” and Modern Family.” Mary Tyler Moore received SAG’s highest honor, the 48th annual Life Achievement Award. See the full list of awards here.
This year’s awards came as the national boards of SAG and AFTRA (Television and Radio Artists) in separate meetings over the weekend approved a merger between the two mega-entertainment unions. SAG National President Ken Howard said the agreement, which will be voted on by members in February and March, is a “terrific outcome.” Read the rest of this entry »
Screen Actors to Honor Mary Tyler Moore
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We loved Mary Tyler Moore as Laura Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and as the iconic Mary Richards on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” roles in which she created a new paradigm for female leads in television.
Now, her colleagues and co-workers plan to honor Moore with the Screen Actors (SAG) Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. She will receive the award at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards—the nation’s largest and only-nationally televised all-union awards show—which premieres live on TNT and TBS Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, at 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT, 6 p.m. MT and 5 p.m. PT. SAG represents nearly 120,000 actors in film, television, industrials, commercials and music videos.
An accomplished actress, Moore has won seven Emmys, a Tony and an Academy Award nomination. She has won honors for her courageous performances, including her role as TV correspondent Betty Rollin who was battling breast cancer in “First, You Cry.” On the big screen, she has portrayed characters as varied as Beth Jarrett, a bitter mother coping with the death of a son in “Ordinary People,” to Elvis Presley’s last female co-star in “Change of Habit.” She was a hit on Broadway playing a quadriplegic sculptor fighting to determine her own destiny in “Whose Life Is It, Anyway?”
300 Join Labor College Fundraising Gala
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Lara Manzione of the National Labor College reports on last night’s “Time to Build” fundraising gala at the college.
Following the first day of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting held at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md., the college hosted a “A Time to Build” gala last night. The gala honored Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), and the presidents of five entertainment unions: Ray Hair, American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM); Ken Howard, Screen Actors (SAG); Matthew Loeb, Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); Roberta Reardon, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA); and Nick Wyman, Actors’ Equity (AEA).
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says he selected the NLC as the location for this Executive Council meeting because “education is such an important part of the future of the labor movement, and a key way for us to transmit labor’s values during a time of change in our economy and our society.”
Digital Theft Agreements a Good Start
The next time you download music, a TV program or a video game from the Internet, you may get an alert that you are about to steal copyrighted material.
Internet service providers, payment system operators and motion picture and recording industry officials reached two voluntary agreements last week that will help curb digital theft, copyright infringement and product counterfeiting on the Web.
Using materials produced for the Internet by the actors, writers, musicians and others without these safeguards cheats the creative artists who should be paid for their work, just like any other worker. It is estimated that downloading copyrighted material from the Internet costs 140,000 jobs and more than $5.5 billion in sales each year.
American Rights at Work Honors Cromwell, United Streetcar and Founders
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The voice of America’s workers and middle class rang out loud and clear at the 7th Annual American Rights at Work (ARAW) Awards Celebration earlier this week in Washington, D.C.
Kimberly Freeman Brown, American Rights at Work executive director, set the theme of the evening when she said to the 400 participants, ”Our aim is to show the Wisconsin teacher and the Washington machinist that they are not alone.”
Bo McCurry, president of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2143 in Sparta, Tenn., described life on the frontlines in the battle to save America’s middle class. His plant has been repeatedly honored as productive and effective. Yet the employer, Dutch multinational Philips Lighting, is closing the plant and shipping those jobs to Mexico. McCurry said:
We’ve got to think about our trade laws and what we’re doing to protect our interests here. If we’re going to have a future at all, we’ve got to tell our children that making things in this country is important. We need manufacturing jobs. We’ve earned our place in the global competition and we’re willing to keep improving and keep competing, but when we do that and then have it yanked from us, well that’s just a kick in the head.
You can read McCurry’s entire speech here.
In contrast to Philips, Oregon’s United Streetcar, one of the recipients of the evening’s Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Awards, was honored as an example for other businesses to emulate.
Illegal Downloads Steal Wages, Benefits From Workers
Too few people who download entertainment illegally recognize that they are stealing wages and benefits from workers, Paul Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE) told a bipartisan Capitol Hill press conference today.
Almeida joined with members of Congress and business leaders to discuss the continuing harm illegal downloads and other online infringement or counterfeits pose to American jobs and the economy. According to estimates, intellectual property theft costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion every year and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs.
Workers Take Their Struggle to Governors
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Governors from across the country got a clear message of worker solidarity Sunday morning as more than 1,000 working people and activists demonstrated their support for Wisconsin workers outside the annual conference of the National Governors Association in downtown Washington, D.C. Chanting “Kill the bill!” and “What’s disgusting? Union busting!” the group filled the sidewalk outside the conference hotel. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker had been scheduled to chair a panel at the conference but canceled his appearance.
The demonstrations were part of a weekend of mobilizations across the country as the spontaneous reaction to attacks on the right of public employees to bargain for middle-class jobs spread. Here are photos and recaps from some of the protests this weekend:
- Some 1,000 people rallied at the state Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Read more here.
- In Buffalo, N.Y., some 300 working people marched in support of the Wisconsin public employees.
- The Northeast (N.Y.) AFL-CIO reports that about 250 people rallied at City Hall in Plattsburgh.
- Nearly 1,000 working people and community allies rallied in New York City Saturday. Read more here.
Leo, Portman Shout Out to Unions at SAG Awards
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Boxing and ballet may not have a lot in common, except for the hard work to get to the top. But two award-winning actors in the films spotlighting the worlds of prize fighting and dancing share one thing in common: their support of unions.
Melissa Leo portrayed Alice Ward, the nail-tough mother/manager of boxers Mickey and Dickey Ward in “The Fighter.” That role won her the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.
While Ward may have been tough enough to stand on her own and take on boxing promoters and others scheming to exploit her sons, Leo knows most people can use a little help and collective action to counter punch when they are under attack. In her acceptance speech Sunday, this is how she put it:
Unions made this country great because they give the voice to the working people.
Unions also can offer protection for working people, especially young working people, as Natalie Portman pointed out. (Check out the video above at the 2:40 mark.) The winner of the Outstanding Performance by A Female Actor in a Leading Role for the ballet drama, “Black Swan,” said in her acceptance speech:
I’ve been working since I was 11 years old and [SAG] has taken care of me. They made sure that I wasn’t working too long and made sure that I got my education while I was working and I am so grateful to have this union protecting me everyday.
Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, Melissa Leo, Christian Bale Get SAG Top Awards
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The movies “The King’s Speech” and “The Fighter” and the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire” were the big winners at last night’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, the nation’s largest and only nationally televised all-union awards show.
Their fellow actors awarded Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, Melissa Leo and Christian Bale top honors for performances in motion pictures and Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Claire Danes, Julianna Margulies, Al Pacino and Betty White for performances in television. The awards for TV ensemble went to the casts of “Boardwalk Empire” and “Modern Family.”
In her acceptance speech, Portman paid tribute to the union’s important role:
I’ve been working since I was 11 years old. You made sure I wasn’t working too long, made sure I got my education while I was working. I’m so grateful to have this union protecting me every day.
NFL Players File Complaint Against Owners—and More Bargaining News
The NFL Players Association charged team owners with collusion to restrict thelr rights, 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 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
NEGOTIATIONS NFLPA, NFL: The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) confirmed it has filed a complaint with a special master, alleging NFL team owners colluded to restrict the rights of players. Meanwhile, NFLPA members are visiting Capitol Hill this week to discuss with lawmakers the potential lockout by team owners and the devastating economic impact it would have on communities. The NFL is able to negotiate lucrative television deals because Congress granted it an antitrust exemption.
AFT-NEA, Minneapolis School District: After 18 months of negotiations, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (AFT-NEA) reached a two-year tentative agreement with the school district. While the deal provides no raises, it maintains step increases and health care coverage at no additional cost to teachers.
