CMU School of Drama


Friday, March 06, 2020

SAG-AFTRA to Members: ‘Your Union Has Your Back’ on Coronavirus

Variety: SAG-AFTRA has reassured its 160,000 members that it will push hard for a safe working environment amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Your safety is paramount,” SAG president Gabrielle Carteris and SAG national executive director David White said in a message sent Thursday to members.

2 comments:

Kaylie said...

It is nice that the union is supporting its members, but I do not know how this is going to end as the virus progresses. Typically, the goal with pandemics that are as non-lethal as Coronavirus and other new flus is to slow the spread in an effort to stave off mutations long enough for a vaccine to be developed and the long term effects to be truly understood. Covid-19 is spreading a lot faster than previous pandemics. It seems unlikely that quarantine will be effective in stopping the spread, and I don’t know how long unions are going to be able to hold out and support the full 2 week quarantine that is required. It is pretty much impossible currently to get tested for the virus, meaning that anyone who has even the common cold may be quarantining themselves for two whole weeks which just doesn’t seem sustainable in the midst of cold and flu season. I feel like until tests are available, we will have no idea how far this virus has spread and people will be unmotivated to quarantine.

Annika Evens said...

I think it is really good that the union is supporting everyone who wants to ensure they have a safe working environment. I know that there is really no way of knowing how this virus will spread and how many people will be affected. But until this is more research done on this, I think making sure everyone doing the best they can to help stop the spread of the virus is the most important. Kaylie is definitely right thought that even people with a common cold may be more concerned than usual because there is no read available testing for this virus. But with all of the cleaning measures put in place to protect again this, I have seen people saying that cold and flu rates will go down. It will be interesting to see what the union does as this disease spreads and how the industry as a whole approaches workplace safety and health-related concerns.