Labor Union Blog

Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer

The red-carpet glamor and prestige of the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards last night put the pre-Oscar spotlight on the cast of “The Help” in the theatrical motion picture category, with actors themselves choosing the best of the best.

“The Help” cast also was recognized with Viola Davis taking the award for best performance by a female lead and Octavia Spencer receiving the honor for best supporting female actor. Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”) was credited with best performance in a male leading role and Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”) took the award for best supporting actor. Top television performance awards went to Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Lange, Betty White and Kate Winslet, with television ensemble honors taken by “Boardwalk Empire” and Modern Family.” Mary Tyler Moore received SAG’s highest honor, the 48th annual Life Achievement Award. See the full list of awards here.

This year’s awards came as the national boards of SAG and AFTRA (Television and Radio Artists) in separate meetings over the weekend approved a merger between the two mega-entertainment unions.  SAG National President Ken Howard said the agreement, which will be voted on by members in February and March, is a “terrific outcome.”

Professional performers are now an important step closer to the strongest union representation possible.  Just as our boards have, I believe our members will decisively approve this merger and that SAG-AFTRA will be a leader in shaping the entertainment and media industries.

Months of discussions of the merger between the two unions included a “listening tour” by Howard and AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon. According to Reardon:

We now have the opportunity to finally stand united through one union to secure more union work and better benefits for our members, and for the generations of entertainment and media professionals who follow us.

SAG awards are determined by the votes of SAG actors, with 10,000 actors eligible to vote. The live televised awards show last night included a tribute to SAG’s regional branches, spotlighting memorable moments created by actors who live and work across the nation.

Laura Markwardt, senior communications associate at the Alliance for Retired Americans, sends us this.

Hundreds of Florida seniors and others turned out for a rally in Tampa Friday against voter suppression. The rally was followed by a hearing inside the courthouse about the new law chaired by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin who came to investigate whether the state law denies voters their constitutional rights. Durbin is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights.

Recent changes in Florida’s election rules will have a dramatic impact on Florida’s seniors and other voters. The new law passed in the Florida legislature cuts early voting from 14 days to seven days before the election, which hurts many seniors who vote early because they are physically unable to stand in a long line or make it to the polls on Election Day. Limiting the ability to vote early will indeed impact Florida’s seniors and will disproportionately affect African Americans, Latinos, working families and young voters.

Florida Alliance for Retired Americans President Tony Fransetta spoke at the rally about his concerns about voter suppression saying,

The law is an effort to limit voter turnout – and it shouldn’t stand.

In addition to his senior peers, who will be severely impacted by the new law, Fransetta, a retired autoworker, Korean War veteran, and grandfather, expressed disgust that “our black brothers and sisters had their last day of voting taken away from them.” He was referring to the law’s elimination of early voting the Sunday before an election, which disproportionately impacts African American and
Hispanic voters, who make up the vast majority of those who vote the Sunday before an election.

The changes were made in the name of reducing voter fraud have less to do with fraud and more to do with restricting certain groups of people from voting. Between January 2008 and last March, for example, there have only been 31 election fraud cases being investigated – nationwide.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who signed the bill into law and is one of its most popular supporters, did not accept an invitation to speak at the hearing on Friday.

Sen. Durbin (Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights) said in a statement after the Florida hearing:

Over 30 states have new or pending changes to current voting laws. States seeking to change their laws have passed or proposed provisions that significantly reduce the number of early voting days, require voters to show restrictive forms of photo identification before voting and make it harder for volunteer organizations to register new voters. Supporters of these laws argue that they will reduce the risk of voter fraud. The overwhelming evidence, however, indicates that voter fraud is virtually non-existent and that these new laws will make it harder for hundreds of thousands of elderly, disabled, minority, young, rural, and low-income Americans to exercise their right to vote.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson said the law will have to be changed by the courts because the state legislature would not do it.

The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans and countless advocacy groups in the state will continue to push for justice and the reversal of the law.

From Union Communications Services:

Joe Glazer, known by many as labor’s troubadour, had for more than 50 years used his voice and guitar to rally supporters to the union cause, including for this timely tune, “Downsized.”

Before his death in 2006, he had performed in a hundred union halls, on dozens of picket lines and at scores of political and protest rallies and union conventions.  He appeared in nearly every state in the union and in 60 countries around the world and recorded more than 25 LP albums, cassettes and CDs of labor and political music.

Click here to listen to “Downsized.”

You can purchase songs by Glazer and other labor music from the non-profit, labor-supported Labor Heritage Foundation.