Stars Equity encourages SAG-AFTRA merger

The Stars Equity Council has endorsed the suggested combo from the Screen Stars Guild and also the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists.The council, which approved the endorsement all on Tuesday, may be the first organization to back the SAG-AFTRA merger.The resolution stated the council "strongly supports" the merger. The council has 84 people.SAG and AFTRA will mail out ballots on February. 27 to 120,000 SAG people and 70,000 AFTRA people, who include stars, tv stations, DJs, performers and ballroom dancers, having a tabulation date of March 30. To become approved, the merger must receive a minimum of 60% from the votes from each union.Should that merger agreement be accepted, new mergers would need to be authorized by the 60% from the voting membership or by 60% from the associates from the new SAG-AFTRA. Which means future combinations with your artist unions as Stars Equity wouldn't be susceptible to direct approval through the people of SAG-AFTRA.Merger advocates have lengthy stated that mixing unions is really a logical reaction to the growing energy from the mega-conglomerates and contended the combined unions may have more negotiating clout. Merger competitors, who lost energy at SAG recently, have contended that SAG will forfeit its character like a entertainers union which the combined entity will not convey more energy in the settling table.SAG people chosen lower a suggested merger in 2003, once the merged union could have been known as the Alliance of Intl. Media Artists. The Stars Equity Council all backed the "consolidation and affiliation" proposal in 2003.Roughly two-thirds of Equity's 45,000 people will also be in SAG and/or AFTRA. The American Federation of Music artists and also the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees also endorsed the 2003 merger plan. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com