Apologies for delays in updating

Please accept administrators' apologies for not updating but one admin has been abroad, another has been indisposed and others forgot the password ! ! !...so some unavoidable delays. However show contract finishes soon...up for auditions....but things winding down as no more extra rehearsals...so more time to update....
UPDATES WILL FOLLOW SHORTLY.
Thank you.

What are the criteria for new Equity Branches?

For democracy to work properly the majority have to be involved - it cannot be democracy by default where the minority decide can it? It used to be that there was a minimum number of members required to start a new General Branch ideally between 80 - 100 members making such a request. The current Rep Con Council majority have lowered this requirement over the past few years. So a "backstage" question - how many members DO YOU think should be regarded as sufficient to request Council to agree to a form a new General Branch?
Please email any thoughts to:

daveeagerequity@yahoo.co.uk

You may like to consider this:
Apart from the additional cost to Equity, you and me, the more General Branches there are...the more representatives attend the Annual Representative Conference. If the General Branches are NOT representative of the members, then it means neither is the Annual Representative Conference. BUT the Annual Representative Conference has the power to over-rule the Council...the body which is directly elected by all members, regardless of whether you attend a local branch or not.
The move for more branches is a move to "ACTIVISTS ONLY WELCOME". Other members - just pay your subscriptions because the activists know best what is good for you !

Certification Officer or not?

Following a report to the Council, at its December meeting, at which Gen Sec informed that Dave Eager had made a complaint to the Certification Officer about the rule change referendum which took place earlier this year....we asked Dave if the date 1st February for the hearing given to the Council was correct. Dave was not prepared to confirm this date....so is it "Certification Officer or not?" What is going on Dave? It has been confirmed that Madhav Sharma's complaint, arising from the referendum, is to be heard by the Certification Officer on the 31st January.

SIR JIMMY SAVILE OBE

Jimmy has been one of Dave Eager's proposer's to the Equity Council since the time Dave first stood for election back in the 8o's. Dave's showbiz mentor and "Godfather" Jimmy's passing is the end of an era...drawing a line under the crazy hazy pop '60's years. As Dave says: "Gone to be with The Duchess.....and I bet she'll be there with her pyrex dishes for her son" !!!! R.I.P Jimmy - Happy memories live on.

MARZIEH VAFAMEHR

UPDATE to earlier posting 18th October: "eager4equity" welcomes the news of the release of Marzieh Vafamehr

It has been reported that Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr has had her sentence reduced to three months and will not receive any form of corporal punishment. As Marzieh Vafamehr has already served four months in jail she has now been released.

TV CREDITS SURVEY

Jean Rogers, the union’s vice-president, is behind Equity's latest effort to make sure performers are properly credited at the end of a programme in which they appear....building on Equity's "Stop the Credit Crunch" campaign.
To give your support, and express what you think about performers' credits being crunched at the end of programmes please complete the survey which may be found at:

THE CREDITS CRUNCH SURVEY

SAVE MARZIEH VAFAMEHR

Australian Actors Equity has written to the Australian Ambassador of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Babaei, and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd, expressing concern for Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr.
Marzieh has been sentenced to one year’s imprisonment & ninety lashes for her performance in the film "My Tehran For Sale". The film, produced in South Australia, was shot in the Iranian capital. It tells the story of a young actress whose stage work is banned by authorities.
The film, which premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2009, was part of the official selection for the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was banned from broadcast & sale in Iran, but apparently some "under the counter" copies have been seen in the country which is what triggered Marzieh being charged by the authorities.
Equity UK is urging members to support a campaign on behalf of Marzieh Vafamehr. We respectfully urge you to consider Ms Marzieh current distressing situation, read all the information and sign the petition.
http://www.equityfoundation.org.au/newsbites/actors-equity-calls-for-the-release-of-marzieh-vafamehr.html
Many thanks - "eager4equity-equity-backstage"

WHERE IS THE INCREASE IN JOBS?

Great play has recently been made about the fact that Equity membership numbers have increased. The membership figures are at an all time high. Wonderful some may say...but consider this....as membership numbers have increased by several thousand where have the NEW jobs come from? We have not seen any news in "The Stage", for example, that Government policies / funding has increased so as to create more jobs in our profession. Neither have we seen any significant growth in job opportunities in Film, TV, Variety and LE. In fact most members will tell you that searching for work has become harder. One might argue that numbers have increased because people already doing work have been persuaded to join Equity but others will equally argue that those who are newly joining are doing so at the expense of taking work from existing members. We wonder if the bar for joining Equity has not been lowered so low as to totally devalue the professional status of holding an Equity card. We also wonder if the percentage of members "out of work" has increased ! ! !