A Cut Called ‘Raise’

Ken Orsatti’s March 2 Counterpunch, “SAG: Most Extras Got Pay Raise, Not a Cut,” was a bunch of nonsense, so much so that I wonder if any professional extras sat on the Screen Actors Guild negotiating committee. He certainly doesn’t speak for me or any other union extra that I know.

Cutting the scale to $65 is not just a pay cut, it’s an almost 30% cut in spendable income. Most of us feel it’s more important to be able to pay for food and shelter than for pension and welfare, especially since many of us won’t even qualify for the insurance.

The only extras who will get a raise, under the new contract, will be the non-union extras who make $42. Since when is it union policy to improve conditions for non-union workers at the expense of the union membership?

Orsatti and company have sold the extras down the river.

LEW FORREST

Woodland Hills