Updated with clarification: Two more local SAG-AFTRA presidencies have been decided: Jim Gleason won a squeaker in New Orleans, and Rik Deskin won handily in Seattle. Deskin, who defeated Peter M. Wallack by a vote of 158-62, is a prominent supporter of Fran Drescher, who’s running for SAG-AFTRA national president.
Gleason, who defeated Olga Wilhelmine in New Orleans by only eight votes – 120-112 – is a supporter of national presidential candidate Matthew Modine’s MembershipFirst slate. An earlier version of this story noted that Gleason, who won in New Orleans without even posting a candidate’s statement on the ballot, does not appear to be aligned with either faction. Gleason, however, does support Modine for national president, and his running mate, Joely Fisher for national secretary-treasurer.
“I don’t belong to any SAG-AFTRA political faction,” Gleason said last month in an email to his supporters. “I’m not running...
Gleason, who defeated Olga Wilhelmine in New Orleans by only eight votes – 120-112 – is a supporter of national presidential candidate Matthew Modine’s MembershipFirst slate. An earlier version of this story noted that Gleason, who won in New Orleans without even posting a candidate’s statement on the ballot, does not appear to be aligned with either faction. Gleason, however, does support Modine for national president, and his running mate, Joely Fisher for national secretary-treasurer.
“I don’t belong to any SAG-AFTRA political faction,” Gleason said last month in an email to his supporters. “I’m not running...
- 8/25/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Opponents of changes coming to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan said tonight they are considering legal action to prevent thousands of participants and their family members from losing their health coverage when the sweeping changes take effect on Jan. 1, 2021.
“We have been talking to lawyers. We have been talking to government agencies,” said Patricia Richardson, president of the union’s Los Angeles Local and the host of tonight’s Virtual Union Hall – the second in a series of Zoom meetings organized by leaders of the union’s longtime opposition party. “I can tell you right now, there’s some illegal stuff going on here. There’s certainly a lawsuit. Whether there’s going to be money for the lawsuit is a whole other question.”
“We are in the process of figuring it out,” said David Jolliffe, a national board member and 2nd vice president of the LA Local – who Richardson described...
“We have been talking to lawyers. We have been talking to government agencies,” said Patricia Richardson, president of the union’s Los Angeles Local and the host of tonight’s Virtual Union Hall – the second in a series of Zoom meetings organized by leaders of the union’s longtime opposition party. “I can tell you right now, there’s some illegal stuff going on here. There’s certainly a lawsuit. Whether there’s going to be money for the lawsuit is a whole other question.”
“We are in the process of figuring it out,” said David Jolliffe, a national board member and 2nd vice president of the LA Local – who Richardson described...
- 8/22/2020
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
SAG-aftra president Gabrielle Carteris on Monday condemned attacks on journalists covering the nationwide protests – whether at the hands of police or protesters.
“Over the past week, we have witnessed numerous attacks on journalists during the protests that grip our nation,” she said in a message today to the union’s broadcasters. “Dozens of journalists have been injured, harassed or detained simply for doing their jobs and exercising their rights as members of the press. Whether perpetrated by the public or by the state, acts of violence on journalists bringing news to the communities they serve are a betrayal of our nation’s founding principle that a free press is necessary for the maintenance of a free government.”
“These are brazen attacks on unarmed citizens, our democracy and the people’s right to know how those on whom we confer power are using that power,” she said. “As citizens of this democratic nation,...
“Over the past week, we have witnessed numerous attacks on journalists during the protests that grip our nation,” she said in a message today to the union’s broadcasters. “Dozens of journalists have been injured, harassed or detained simply for doing their jobs and exercising their rights as members of the press. Whether perpetrated by the public or by the state, acts of violence on journalists bringing news to the communities they serve are a betrayal of our nation’s founding principle that a free press is necessary for the maintenance of a free government.”
“These are brazen attacks on unarmed citizens, our democracy and the people’s right to know how those on whom we confer power are using that power,” she said. “As citizens of this democratic nation,...
- 6/8/2020
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Olga Wilhelmine, SAG-aftra’s national board member from New Orleans, is on a mission. With so many of her fellow actors struggling financially during the pandemic, she’s trying to connect them with their unclaimed residuals.
The union is holding tens of millions of dollars in unclaimed SAG residuals for tens of thousands of actors and their heirs that it can’t locate. Wilhelmine wants to help find them and get them the money they’re owed.
She sent a letter to the union’s leaders this week asking them to establish a task force “to assist the Residuals Department with the location of members or their heirs and the distribution of their unclaimed residuals; and in establishing new procedures to expedite that distribution.”
In the meantime, however, she’s been reaching out to actors on her own whose names she’s found while scouring the union’s unclaimed residuals website,...
The union is holding tens of millions of dollars in unclaimed SAG residuals for tens of thousands of actors and their heirs that it can’t locate. Wilhelmine wants to help find them and get them the money they’re owed.
She sent a letter to the union’s leaders this week asking them to establish a task force “to assist the Residuals Department with the location of members or their heirs and the distribution of their unclaimed residuals; and in establishing new procedures to expedite that distribution.”
In the meantime, however, she’s been reaching out to actors on her own whose names she’s found while scouring the union’s unclaimed residuals website,...
- 6/4/2020
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
The opposition party at SAG-aftra’s local in New Orleans has won a resounding victory in a re-run of the August election that was mandated by the local’s election committee. Olga Wilhelmine, who won the original contest for a seat on the national board, won again in the re-run, as did all of her running mates on the Nola Slate for Change.
Wilhelmine handily defeated Charles Ferrara for the national board seat, 151-64 – a margin of 70%-30%. In the August election, she defeated him 56-44%. Ferrara also lost in the race for vice president, as he did the first time, to Randal Gonzalez, who this time got 62% of the vote. Kerry Kelly Gridley won again as secretary, this time with 70% of the vote.
The re-run was ordered after the local’s election committee found that the Nola Slate for Change candidates had accepted “unlawful contributions” from employers at a...
Wilhelmine handily defeated Charles Ferrara for the national board seat, 151-64 – a margin of 70%-30%. In the August election, she defeated him 56-44%. Ferrara also lost in the race for vice president, as he did the first time, to Randal Gonzalez, who this time got 62% of the vote. Kerry Kelly Gridley won again as secretary, this time with 70% of the vote.
The re-run was ordered after the local’s election committee found that the Nola Slate for Change candidates had accepted “unlawful contributions” from employers at a...
- 12/17/2019
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Saying that “your vote counts, even if they make you do it twice,” a group of SAG-AFTRA members in New Orleans say they will “embrace” the mandated re-run of their local’s election even though they think the do-over is the result of a “biased decision.”
“The decision to re-run the Nola election is a biased decision, and extremely discouraging,” said the Nola Slate for Change opposition party, which won all but one of the contested local races. “News of this ruling quickly reverberated throughout our local membership. The committee’s decision is seen as an ‘old guard’ attempt to discount the membership’s desire for systematic change. The outpouring of support and encouragement for the Nola Slate for Change candidates has pushed us to embrace the re-run as another opportunity for our membership to clearly state their desire for overwhelming change.”
The order to re-run the election...
“The decision to re-run the Nola election is a biased decision, and extremely discouraging,” said the Nola Slate for Change opposition party, which won all but one of the contested local races. “News of this ruling quickly reverberated throughout our local membership. The committee’s decision is seen as an ‘old guard’ attempt to discount the membership’s desire for systematic change. The outpouring of support and encouragement for the Nola Slate for Change candidates has pushed us to embrace the re-run as another opportunity for our membership to clearly state their desire for overwhelming change.”
The order to re-run the election...
- 10/9/2019
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
New Orleans SAG-AFTRA Local Ordered To Re-Run Recent Election Over “Unlawful” Campaign Contributions
Exclusive: The New Orleans local of SAG-AFTRA has been ordered to re-run its recent election. The order, handed down by the local’s election committee in a 12-page decision, found that the winning Nola Slate for Change candidates had accepted “unlawful contributions” from employers at a campaign event held on June 29. Matthew Modine, who finished second to Gabrielle Carteris for national SAG-aftra president, attended the event, and was endorsed by the Nola Slate for Change.
A protest filed with the election committee by several losing candidates alleged that a local distillery had provided the venue for the event, and the food and beverages that were served there. In its findings, the election committee wrote: “We conclude that there were improper employer contributions made that benefited the Nola Slate for Change, that these contributions violated the Election Policy and federal law, and that the violations may have affected the outcome of the election.
A protest filed with the election committee by several losing candidates alleged that a local distillery had provided the venue for the event, and the food and beverages that were served there. In its findings, the election committee wrote: “We conclude that there were improper employer contributions made that benefited the Nola Slate for Change, that these contributions violated the Election Policy and federal law, and that the violations may have affected the outcome of the election.
- 10/4/2019
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
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