Reprinted from ....
June 23-29, 2000 |
The Performing
Arts Weekly
|
Cheers for SAG-AFTRA
Bravo to my fellow actors of SAG and AFTRA, striking against the advertising
industry, demanding fair compensation for their work! Shame on the production
companies who (The New York Times reports) are trying to rob from
them what is rightfully theirs, using such unethical, unAmerican tactics
as hiring nonunion workers and "making their commercials overseas," where
labor is much cheaper. These executives want to keep for themselves and
shareholders money earned by actors whose work sells their clients' products.
Let's be clear: Every person deserves the wealth his or her labor produces.
Eli Siegel, historian and founder of Aesthetic Realism, explained: "The
most important thing in industry is the person who does the industry, which
is the worker. Labor is the only source of wealth." (Goodbye Profit
System: Update, New York: Definition Press)
Anne Fielding New York City