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May Commentary from George Spiro Dibie The Truth about Fig Newtons Say goodbye to the good old American Fig Newton. Nabisco has closed the factory where they have manufactured the cookies in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, since 1958. So far, some 240 people have lost their jobs. Many of them were loyal employees for decades. They helped to make the company successful and were betrayed by Nabisco. Many of them will lose their homes and security because the company decided to manufacture Fig Newton cookies in Monterrey, Mexico, where they pay a fraction of the labor costs and U.S. environmental and safety regulations don’t apply. It’s happening everywhere. The National Association of Manufacturers reports that U.S. companies have exported 2.1 million factory jobs during the past few years. You can thank NAFTA for draining most of these jobs out of the American economy. Do you remember when our politicians assured us the global economy was a two-way street? They claimed the jobs we exported would lift standards of living in other countries, where well-paid workers would buy American-made exports. The New York Times recently published a story about a city in China where some 1,500 people were maimed in factory accidents last year. People typically work 10 hours a day with one 20-minute break for lunch in those plants. They are paid the equivalent of 50 cents an hour. Practically every day, an average of four to five workers in that one city lose fingers and limbs or are otherwise maimed, because there are no meaningful safety or environmental regulations, and no penalties for negligent factory owners. I don’t have to tell any of you how the job drain is affecting our industry and our art form. Our politicians are supposed to work for all of us. But, they are looking the other way when the multi-national studios and advertising agencies sell us out. Every time a U.S. commercial goes to South Africa and a television movie goes to New Zealand, it diminishes our art form and our lives. It hurts our camera crews, the electricians and grips. It devastates the people who work for the caterers, rental houses, labs, postproduction facilities, costume and prop departments. It hurts America, because motion pictures and television programs are a vital part of our culture and economy. I am not telling you something you don’t already know. I have delivered this sermon many times before. I am repeating myself because I am tired of listening to some of our members’ complaints about how the Guild should do more for them. What they don’t realize is that the Guild isn’t a building and a handful of paid staff. The Guild is all of us. The truth is that maybe 100 of our 6,000 members volunteer to do most of the work when we have lighting seminars and other training programs. Have YOU ever called your congressmen and senators and complained about their inaction regarding runaway productions? Have you let them know that you are as mad as hell? Have you tried to muster support from your co-workers and friends? Try standing in front of a mirror and looking yourself in the eye. Ask yourself, are you doing your part or are you one of the complainers? I have no complaints. I came to this great country to pursue the American dream. I have worked hard, and I have been rewarded. I have gotten to live my dreams. I have always felt that I owed an enormous debt to the previous generation of volunteers who made our Guild a potent force in our industry and art from. I urge everyone to pick up the telephone today and call your State and Federal representatives and complain to them about runaway productions. Don’t call me… I am doing my part. I want YOU to do YOUR part. It will make you feel good about yourself. There is one more thing you can do. Stop eating Fig Newtons. As always, I look forward to your comments and suggestions. Please e-mail them to me. George Spiro Dibie, ASC
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