AFTRA Seeks Direct Affiliation with AFL-CIO
AFTRA is seeking a direct affiliation with the AFL-CIO. The labor federation is expected to make a decision at a Sept. 21 meeting and if successful, AFTRA would officially end its membersship to the Associated Actors and Artistes of America.
It likely will be more than a month before AFTRA knows whether AFL-CIO leaders will smile upon its request for a direct link to the labor mothership.
Members voted in July to seek a direct national charter with the AFL-CIO, replacing an indirect affiliation AFTRA has through the AAAA.
"We're in ongoing conversations with the AFL-CIO about our application," AFTRA spokes¬man John Hinrichs said. "They are working through their process and hope to report it back to their executive council as soon as possible."
SAG president Alan Rosenberg said Tuesday that he's concerned about AFTRA's move to quit the so-called Four A's and affiliate directly with the AFL-CIO.
"We're still trying to figure out what that means to us and to the Four A's," Rosenberg said. "We haven't had the opportunity to fully vet this (and) until we do that we couldn't fully support such a move."
Although Rosenberg declined to elaborate, it's known that SAG officials are concerned that AFTRA's leaving the Four A's would inject even more uncertainty into jurisdictional gray areas that already cause regular friction between SAG and AFTRA.
Officials at AFTRA believe its Four A's charter allows the union to organize any cable TV shows shot digitally, but SAG believes that's an overly broad interpretation of language written before the advent of digital production. Should AFTRA leave the Four A's, disputes over cable organizing and other jurisdictional matters can only spread, SAG officials fear.
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