Posts by Sacha
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The problem
*A* problem
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+1 to that
Conor, high praise for you over here.
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Can I ask is that a generalised distrust of unions or just this particular one? I thought we had a long history in this country of unions providing services and handling funds responsibly.
It's what makes the current situation so disappointing for me.
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Dexter, I hope you haven't mistaken this for the SoloPassion site or somesuch.
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Brendon, thank goodness you and your deluded buddies are not running much of anything but you really need to get out of the way for those who do know what they're doing.
Lprent at the Standard feels the same about Paul Holmes in the course of considering sea change on the left.
Lynn'll probably be condemned as a class traitor as well.
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this whole Hobbit thing was fired up as a disctration while the government sneaked out plans to reform state housing
And you wonder why the trad left have such a bad reputation at the moment?
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copy and paste from a pdf.
Graham, most PDF reader software just has a text selecting tool that lets you copy and paste, but the original might be better. I'm sure if you email Russell (envelope icon next to any of his posts) he'd be happy to help load it here.
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The current situation is a direct result of decisions taken not to engage with Equity over the past years. The request to meet with the producers of The Hobbit was simply the latest in a series of chances for the industry to sit down with Equity and discuss the situation. Instead of dialogue, cant and vitriol were heaped on the actors, at first collectively and now individually.
Graham, where do you suggest is the best place for us to read more about that? I don't recall too much public coverage other than a bit around the Outrageous Fortune saga.
tea-bagger wannabes
Brendon, do try to resist being part of the problem.
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There may have been earlier communication. No doubt the union can advise.
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Actor's Equity UK still has the old message
Thanks Mark. That backs up what Barnett was relaying from Jackson on Q&A yesterday. What counts as "settled" seems to vary between the two sides.
Kelly and other local unionists are saying it was their Brownlee-mediated agreement between the local players including that they would *recommend* foreign unions withdraw the boycott. Perhaps in their regular negotiations in other local industries that's a fair expectation. But this is not just local as has been clear right from the start.
Warners have said they want to see withdrawal of the ban in writing by *all* the unions who promoted it. We have evidence that this has not happened yet.
Given the studio's previous experience with Mr Whipp, reluctance to take the word of associated parties seems anything but surprising. Jackson's statement that the damage to confidence was already done seems plausible too.
Of course the producers are probably taking advantage of the situation now, and there may even be an element of revenge in there. Brinksmanship has costs.
No surprise either to see opportunism from our government along with just doing their job given the situation. They probably can't believe just what a gift these naive, inept unions have handed them just as the tide was turning. But they were going to fight that anyway and there is a broader battle to be won.
Mass public support often hinges on an emotional reality informed by carefully shaped television and other media.
Jackson seems to have been at least partially the meat in the sandwich, and on telly last week he hardly looked like a confident arch-manipulator of global big business as some old-left ninnies have been painting him. And I doubt Sue Bradford will find many who agree with her assertion that the public think Robyn Malcolm is a "hero".
Jackson's palpable distress and the passion of Richard Taylor would compare favourably for most viewers with the disorganised evasiveness of the union representatives, whether they were right about being shafted or not.
And that's a shame for all of us.