I hate it becusce they always go for the cheap untalented voice actors instead of just using the professionals and paying them what their due.

 

Sure it doesn't automatically mean that abuse will happen, but it makes it easier and what the world does not need is corporations having an easier time abusing workers when it's convenient for them.

 

Unions can, and will, be just as bad when allowed, including coercion of workers to join a union (to the point where it becomes compulsory) and corruption of Union leaders siphoning Union dues to line their pockets. While Unions can protect workers rights, they can also strip a worker of their individual identity/value within a workplace. People joke that employees are nothing but a number to corporations, however the same is true when it comes to Unions. All it takes is one bad leader in either entity to abuse workers with ease. Hell, some labor Unions have a history of committing physical violence against Union members that don't go along with Union strikes and such. It's not as common these days, but it still happens.

 

Let's be real here, Hasbro isn't hiring union workers because they don't want to pay union rates. We heard as much from Peter Cullen himself.

 

Oh I understand that organizations of these sorts will always dehumanize you, to some degree and that there is a bad history to unions, but in the end, it's better to actually have that organization in place, to at least do something to keep other organizations in check. Without it, you run the risk of ending up like animators, who are often overworked beyond burnout, have their personal lives ruined, suffer mental breakdowns and get laid off at a moments notice, just to make a company's already soaring profits go up slightly more. As someone interested in animation and who wants to enter the industry, I can't tell you how many stories I've heard of "crunch culture", stories like of a parent forgetting they left a baby in the car because of how mentally exhausted they were or of being forced to watch endless videos of people dying, in order to perfect combat animations in video games.

 

Fair points, and like I said, I can't really comment on that industry really since my experience is more with construction (which has it's own sort of "crunch culture" at times), and it's possible my experiences with a non union company are not the norm as well. I just see the potential good and bad with both and it bugs me when people equate non union with crap and abuse automatically (not saying that you did that).

I wasn't aware Hasbro themselves do the casting for the shows. They probably set the overall budget, but beyond that it's probably up to the production staff to decide how that budget gets allocated. In this instance, I don't really think Peter Cullen is really a reliable source for total accuracy considering his irritation with non union actors getting cast. He likely said things that weren't fully the truth (and most likely untentionally, just him venting).

 

As an outspoken union member myself, it never ceases to amaze me how Americans will always be so proud of their precious "freedoms", but as far as the field of work is concerned, they're more than willing to accept a dictatorship as the natural order of the world, and consider the choice between different tyrants "freedom". Then again, there is no such thing as exploited proletarians, everyone is just a temporarily inconvenienced millionaire.  

In all seriousness, though...

Here in Germany, my union membership fee is always one percent of my income, regardless of how much I earn. If I'm unemployed, I pay one percent of my unemployment benefits. The idea is that those who earn more contribute proportionally to the common goal.

And why does the union only support people who pay membership fees? Have you ever asked an insurance for benefits without being a paying client? Good luck with that. As far as I'm concerned, only union members should benefit from any raises the union has managed to enforce. Because everything else is freeloading.

People complain about unemployed people being on welfare. Well, not being a union member but expecting to get the same raise as a union member who participated in a walkout is essentially welfare financed by union members.

I do admit that your system is screwed insofar as unions don't allow their members to take non-union jobs, but the main problem is with the system that allows these employers to get away with it, not with the union. Though the union's approach is skewed as well - let your members take those jobs, then demand to negotiate with the employer on their behalf. That way, you can get a foot in the door. Strategically, this "all or nothing" approach isn't the most sound idea.

Overall, a union, at least in theory, is not this external entity that forces itself upon you. A union is a team-up of employees with the shared goal of improving their working conditions. It's like the Avengers. As a union member, I'm a part of the union, and so are my coworkers.

 

If that was how it worked here I'm sure more people would be willing to join unions, sadly as you said, our system is overall screwed on multiple fronts haha

 

yeah our unions are awful too because the ourobouros of the american economy is built on screwing the guy below you while simultaneously hoping nobody screws you or hope the people you screwed don't screw you as much when they're on top.

 

fine

 

I don't mind it, but I just wish they screened a little better. I'm really not a fan of the choice they picked for Optimus. He can join Jon Bailey in the "Sounds fine for a 5 minute parody" club.

 

I don't care that they're non union, e voice acting is utter shit. My problem is the voice acting is total shit.

 

There is definitely no rule that non-union actors are any less talented or professional than union ones, but I do think it is fair to say that the general quality of voice acting in Transformers productions has declined over the last few years.

The movies, Prime, even RID, and heck even early Rescue Bots had really solid voice acting. It's very inconsistent nowadays.

 

I'm fine with non-union casting. But you're rolling the dice with using non-union voice directors. THAT'S the real rub and why half of the dialogue in all the shows are recited so awfully.

Even G1 actors will tell you the old shows wouldn't sound nearly as good without old Wally Burr.

 

This shit pisses me the fuck off, especially if the character is Optimus Prime and you break the guys heart by choosing a cheap ass knock off to essentially play him. I get budget limits, but if you want to create a cheap knock off of him and dis him but more importantly damn near give him depression for not playing his character then I got a problem. I get a younger Optimus but this is straight up cheap assing it and I dont support it one bit. Pay the man and let him play the character he spent so long creating otherwise choose someone else. Hell, Rodimus would be a good cheapish alternative, but if you are going prime, let the men who created it all play their characters.

 

Hasbro cheaped out and it shows. They should have maintained a level of quality in the VAs instead of generic surfer dude Hot Rod and generic female voice Windblade.

 

Firmly disagree with "non-union = crap" arguement; and anybody that wants to diss the voice talent on Cyberverse is wrong. There are a number of amazing actors and actresses on the show. Just because they don't align with your vision for what Transformers should sound like, doesn't make them wrong.

They may be non-union for any number of reasons. They may be new to VA, they may not like the benefits, or more likely that there may be more work available for them as non-union actors.

These Cyberverse actors are talented individuals, putting their all into the work they do.

 

Unions today mostly function to counteract natural market and industry forces to create unsustainable situations that tend to favor no one else except the union leadership and their political and economic goals. Or to put it another way, the unions usually collect a ton of money and use it to enrich themselves and to protect people and ideas that do not deserve to be protected. Specifically within the voice talent industry, SAG functions as an anti-competitive force that works to stifle voices of individuals and replace them with the voices of the union's leaders.

Sure, it's supposed to work that way. But it doesn't. The same narcissists and abusers that get into politics, get into union leadership. Then they get paid under the table to misrepresent the union.

This is what people don't understand about raising the minimum wage. You will make more money per hour, but it's highly likely that your hours will be cut, if you aren't furloughed or laid off all together. Every place that's tried it has shown that many workers who "benefit" from the increased minimum wage actually end up making less money because they work fewer hours, and end up getting a second job to make up the difference.

Yes, I can confirm that this is common practice in the video games industry, and that union rules are the reason. There have also been cases where voice lines recorded by a non-union worker were later replaced by re-recorded lines from a union actor, or from that same actor under a different name, or vice-versa. I would be willing to bet that most prominent voice actors work under more than one name.

Personally, I think people like Crispin Glover are titanically over-exposed and need to get out of the way and let someone else get a job here and there. I'm bored of hearing them in every fucking show.

 

I think its fine to use non union voice actors. New voice actors should be given the chance to voice Prime or any of the other characters. Everyone has to start somewhere, just like Peter Cullen when he first voiced Optimus in 1984. Saying that no one other than a select group can ever voice Prime means that no one can break through and make a name as a character.

What I don't like and where I agree with Peter Cullen is getting actors to impersonate another actors voice just to avoid paying a certain amount of money. If a new voice actor is brought in, they should do there own take on the character not an impression of someone else.

If this is also about taking roles away from the set of approved actors - shouldn't Peter Cullen show the same frustration when a famous actor like Ron Perlman takes the role of Optimus Primal denying Garry Chalk the chance to voice him on the big screen?

 

Cyberverse had some good voice actors. Ironically Jake Tillman did a good job as Optimus there even though his performance in WFC is laughable.