Oscar Winner Flames Actors Unions Over "Discriminatory" COVID Vaccine Policies

[Ubiquitous]

Academy Award winning actor Tim Robbins laid into two major actors unions on
Tuesday, calling on them to put an end to their “discriminatory” COVID
vaccine policies.

Robbins called out both SAG-AFTRA (The Screen Actors Guild – American
Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and Actors Equity, and said that
it was “way past time” for the unions to abandon vaccine mandates, citing the
New York Supreme Court ruling that reinstated New York City workers whose
jobs had been terminated when they did not comply with the city’s vaccine
requirements.

“Hey @sagaftra and @actorsequity : Way past time to end your discriminatory
politics. NY Supreme Court just ruled that all unvaccinated NYC employees are
‘reinstated to their full employment’ and are ‘entitled to back pay in salary
from the date of termination.’”

“Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting
or transmitting Covid-19. As of the day of this Decision, CDC
guidelines regarding quarantine and isolation are the same for
vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.”
-Hon. Ralph J. Porziohttps://t.co/oRyAaTzEAt…

— Tim Robbins (@TimRobbins1) October 25, 2022

Robbins continued with a quote from Staten Island Judge Ralph J. Porzio, who
said in his ruling, “Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from
contracting or transmitting COVID-19. As of the day of this Decision, CDC
guidelines regarding quarantine and isolation are the same for vaccinated and
unvaccinated individuals.”

Porzio’s decision came in part because New York City had made exceptions to
the vaccine policy for athletes and performers — he said that the city’s
insistence on keeping the mandate in place for sanitation workers was
“arbitrary and capricious,” adding that if the mandate was truly about health
and safety, there would be no exemptions.

The city has already announced plans to appeal the decision, according to a
spokesman from the legal department. “The city strongly disagrees with this
ruling as the mandate is firmly grounded in law and is critical to New
Yorkers’ public health. We have already filed an appeal. In the meantime, the
mandate remains in place as this ruling pertains solely to the individual
petitioners in this case. We continue to review the court’s decision, which
conflicts with numerous other rulings already upholding the mandate.”

Actor and comedian Rob Schneider voiced his agreement with the “Shawshank
Redemption” star, saying that he had already tried to push the union in that
direction.

“Dear @TimRobbins1, As an Elected SAG National Board member, I agree with you
and I have been trying to make the case but it really is a religion with
these zealots at this point since it is beyond their ability to reason.”

Dear @TimRobbins1
As an Elected SAG National Board member, I agree with you and I
have been trying to make this case but it really is a religion
with these zealots at this point since it is beyond their ability
to reason. https://t.co/jbkECnCCsh

— Rob Schneider (@RobSchneider) October 25, 2022


--
Let's go Brandon!

[BTR1701]

In article <tjbd5n$2fmn1$2...@dont-email.me>,

Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> Academy Award winning actor Tim Robbins laid into two major actors unions on
> Tuesday, calling on them to put an end to their "discriminatory" COVID
> vaccine policies.
>

> Robbins called out both SAG-AFTRA (The Screen Actors Guild - American

> Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and Actors Equity, and said that
> it was "way past time" for the unions to abandon vaccine mandates, citing the
> New York Supreme Court ruling that reinstated New York City workers whose
> jobs had been terminated when they did not comply with the city's vaccine
> requirements.

Robbins is right. If you're nostalgic for the summer of 2020, just go
work in the entertainment industry. They're still giving it the full
court press. They obviously didn't get the memo that the world has moved
on from all that nonsense.

I recently looked into signing up with the companies that handle casting
extras for film, TV, and commercials. Figured it'd be a fun way to pick
up a few bucks, it'd get me out of the house, get a free meal or two,
and maybe see myself in a TV show or something.

So I started the online application only to find out that union rules
mandate that every job on a licensed production requires everyone to be
double-vaxxed, quadruple boosted, and you must wear a mask at all times
when the cameras are not rolling. You also have to take a Wuhan Flu test
within 72 hours of your call time (at your expense) and then take a
second up-the-nose-and-scrape-the brain test each day of the shoot.

They also still have all those "zones" where everyone on the production
is assigned a zone and you're not allowed to cross from your zone into
another zone without three levels of permission. Violation of any of
these rules, even unintentionally, gets you fired and blacklisted from
any future work.

Given my level of tolerance for any of that bullshit, I decided to pass
on extra work until some level of sanity is restored to the business.

> Robbins continued with a quote from Staten Island Judge Ralph J. Porzio, who
> said in his ruling, "Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from
> contracting or transmitting COVID-19. As of the day of this Decision, CDC
> guidelines regarding quarantine and isolation are the same for vaccinated and
> unvaccinated individuals."
>
> Porzio's decision came in part because New York City had made exceptions to

> the vaccine policy for athletes and performers-- he said that the city's

> insistence on keeping the mandate in place for sanitation workers was

> "arbitrary and capricious", adding that if the mandate was truly about health

> and safety, there would be no exemptions.

The judge is absolutely right. The exceptions to the mandate make a
mockery of the entire concept. The idea that performers and athletes are
somehow immune to infection because of their occupation is ridiculous.
The exceptions were made because these people are rich, influential, and
famous and the public wanted their sports and entertainment back. There
was no health-and-safety related reason for them.

> The city has already announced plans to appeal the decision, according to a
> spokesman from the legal department. "The city strongly disagrees with this
> ruling as the mandate is firmly grounded in law and is critical to New
> Yorkers' public health.

Oh, really? Care to explain why it's critical to New Yorkers' public
health that an office clerk be vaccinated but it's not critical to New
Yorkers' public health that Beyonce be vaccinated?

> Actor and comedian Rob Schneider voiced his agreement with the SHAWSHANK
> REDEMPTION star, saying that he had already tried to push the union in that