At a special ceremony last night at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills, the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists presented Bob Barker - former host of "The Price is Right" - with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
In accepting the award, Mr. Barker noted, "...of the many awards that I have received over the years, this is the one that is most important to me."
The celebrated Game Show host has been a member of AFTRA for fifty-five years, and has always backed the Union in their efforts to protect the rights of workers in all areas of the media.
Attendees at the presentation were treated to a handful of hilarious clips from the "The Price is Right".
The popular daytime show has the unique distinction of being the longest-running game-show in Television history.
Barker was in true form last, delighting the audience in attendance with a few zesty one-liners.
At one point, he noted that at his age, he now recognized the need for Health care, for instance.
This joke was made in reference to the fact that AFTRA was the first entertainment union to secure health care benefits for their membership.
In fact, last night, UNION reps used the occasion to unveil a documentary - "Commitment to Action" - which not only celebrates AFTRA'S 75th birthday - but the Union's good works over the years.
In the doc, well-known celebrities - like Studs Terkel - spoke out vigorously in support of AFTRA'S efforts to secure worker's rights, encourage activism, and ultimately, ensure that all performers under the "umbrella" were equally protected.
While the Screen Actors Guild negotiates contractual agreements in the area of film, AFTRA maintains jurisdiction over TV Sitcoms, Soap Operas, Radio, and a portion of the new media proliferating now in the entertainment arena.
In one insightful segment, the filmmakers report how AFTRA went to bat for the first black female newscaster being discriminated against a few years ago on Channel 5.
There was also some nasty footage of early activists getting their heads cracked open, all in the name of the cause of activism in the ranks.
A behind-the-scenes look at how the TAFT HARTLEY LAW got passed was particularly educational - and inspiring.
Also known as The Labor-Management Relations Act, it is a United States Federal Law that greatly restricts the activities and power of labor unions.
The Act, still largely in effect, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. and passed over U.S. President Harry S. Truman's veto on June 23, 1947, establishing the act as a law.
Labor leaders called it the "slave-labor bill".
At the time, though, then President Truman argued that it would "conflict with important principles of our democratic society".
The Taft-Hartley Act amended the National Labor Relations Act which Congress had passed in 1935.
29 U.S.C.A. 141, specifically states that the NLRA was enacted to,
"To promote the full flow of commerce, to prescribe the legitimate rights of both employees and employers in their relations affecting commerce, to provide orderly and peaceful procedures for preventing the interference by either with the legitimate rights of the other, to protect the rights of individual employees in their relations with labor organizations whose activities affect commerce, to define and proscribe practices on the part of labor and management which affect commerce and are inimical to the general welfare, and to protect the rights of the public in connection with labor disputes affecting commerce."
The amendments enacted in the Taft-Hartley Act added a list of prohibited actions, or "unfair labor practices", on the part of unions to the NLRA, which had previously only prohibited "unfair labor practices" committed by employers.
The original Taft-Hartley Act prohibited jurisdictional strikes, secondary boycotts and "common situs" picketing, closed shops, and monetary donations by unions to federal political campaigns.
Union shops were heavily restricted, and states were allowed to pass "right-to-work laws" that outlawed union shops.
Furthermore, the executive branch of the Federal government could obtain legal strikebreaking injunctions if an impending or current strike "imperiled the national health or safety," a test that has been interpreted broadly by the courts today.
Over the years, there has been a push to merge the Screen Actors Guild with AFTRA.
One of the stumbling blocks of the plan appears to be an elitist view by a handful of members at the Screen Actors Guild.
Unlike SAG - where an actor must have a UNION job to join the Guild - AFTRA has an open-door policy.
"Any person off the street can join AFTRA," old-timers are often heard to lament to anyone within earshot.
I am in accord with the open-door policy, personally, because I am vehemently opposed to "closed shops".
I believe that everyone should have the right to work; moreover, in my view, competition is healthy.
The dedicated, hard-working few, will always work...because it is in their nature to do so.
After hearing the comments of some of the panelists at the Fine Arts Theatre - who spoke after the Documentary screened to loud applause - this would appear to be so.
A handful of AFTRA Members - an airborne news reporter, a former talk-show host, a soap actor, and a voice-over specialist - made a number of excellent points about the UNION, its value, and the need for more dues-paying members to get involved.
For the record, I have been an AFTRA member for over twenty years...having worked on TV Soaps such as "General Hospital" and "The Young & Restless"...on popular TV Sitcoms such as "Saved by the Bell" and "Silver Spoons"...and hit comedy shows on Fox like "In Living Color".
But frankly, I do have a bone to pick.
Although reps are supposed to drop down to the set to check on working conditions - I recall that a couple of the Television reps - Chris V. Hagstrom and Kathy Ewers, in particular - often neglected to meet their obligation.
Actors complained that calls on the telephone often went unanswered, because Hagstrom, Ewers, and others - were conveniently unavailable.
When it came to disputes over overtime, special business, and penalties...reps appeared to side up to the production companies.
On occasion, when SAG was picking up shows which normally would have been under AFTRA jurisdiction, the reps were also known to kow-tow to the "suits" to hold on to their small pickings...looking out for their own jobs, perhaps?
In addition, I was often put off by the horrendous attitude of AFTRA employees like Lauren Bailey, who were not only a tad slow to saunter to the telephone - but more-often-than-not - acted like they cared less...in spite of the fact the calls were made with the deliberate aim of resolving issues pertaining to benefits, residual checks, whatever.
Maybe if I was in management, or on the AFTRA Board of Directors - instead of a lowly actor - these three pig-headed employees at AFTRA would have treated me with a little more respect.
If you ask me, Union reps like the ones aforementioned, sold us down the river years ago - and just maybe - it's their fault we're in the pickle we're in today with producers.
For this reason, I wholeheartedly urge that members DO get involved, as they were requested to do last night...if only to keep a watchful eye over paid AFTRA employees who appear to be only concerned about their own backsides - not that of any relatively-unknown actor pulling down less than $15,000.00 a year.
For my taste, AFTRA employees are too clubby, prone to play favorites, and too-often engage in too much questionable politicking for their own good.
Just the facts, man.
