SAG P&H Trustee Speaks Out!!!!

This from the RU4SAGmerger website:

“Last week, in a post on this site, titled See No Evil, Hear No Evil…., the SAG Pension and Health Trustees were asked a very valid and timely question. Why are you remaining silent, unlike the AFTRA Trustees, regarding the”Feasibility Review” posted on the Union websites? The AFTRA Trustees were absolutely correct in saying ”…..the merger of pension and health funds as large and divergent as the AFTRA and SAG plans raises complex and unique financial, legal and benefit issues which can only be addressed through a comprehensive analysis performed by the funds.” In other words, you’ve got to get some actuaries on the job and it won’t be easy.

SAG’s merger document position that “…….merging the unions and the Plans would only benefit plan participants” and …..merger is the best way to protect our benefits” is patently untrue. So why are the SAG Trustees silent? Are they simply ignoring the issue?  I think it’s more complex than that. The Trustees are in the middle of trying to figure out what to do about their longtime CEO, who has been accused by a fired Plan employee of a variety of illegal or improper acts on the job. This has consumed Trustees’ time and energy, but they could have dealt with the Feasibility Review issue if there were a collective will to do so. There is not. The producer Trustees appear to be disinclined to meddle in a Union election. The Guild Trustees, with the exception of a very few, in my opinion, are so dedicated to accomplishing the MERGER that they are willing to ignore the truth.

Several Trustees, named in the See No Evil post, were members of or advisors to the G1 committee. Several of the AFTRA Trustees, who had no part in generating the “feasibility” letters from attorneys, were G1 members also, but they took the high road and showed the determination to be truthful with their members. I think the majority of my fellow SAG Trustees have painted themselves into a corner. The voters have been promised by SAG that merger of the Plans can only be a benefit.  If and when that does not happen, Plan participants and SAG members (who are always striving to be covered) will have only the Trustees to look to for answers. ”What happened to our benefits? We were promised that everything would be better.”

 Robert Carlson,
Board of Trustees, Screen Actors Guild Producers Pension and Health Plan

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Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog