Tough Gig

I know this is going to sound like bitching, maybe it is, but I want to share an experience that I had recently working background on Boom.
Myself and two other SAG members were booked to work as pedestrians on an outdoor afternoon shoot at a Park overlooking Boston Harbor in East Boston. Check in time was 3:30 PM.
We went to the set at 4:00 and were directed to wait in a specific place until they would need us in the shot. So we waited, and waited, and waited, while they rehersed and shot the scene. We were never used in the shot. They wrapped just before dark at 7:45.
I have no clue why they did not use us, what I do know was that we were freezing our collective asses off for close to four hours, out in the open with 25 mile an hour winds blowing off Boston Harbor. It was miserable. We should have been left in the holding are which was less than a five minute walk to the set.
I decided to send an email to Dona at SAG to tell her what had happened. I will share the meat of her response.
She was "sorry" that we had an unpleasant experience. I (or one of the other two SAG members) should have called the SAG office from the set. She recognized that sometimes that is "difficult."
Dona also suggested that we should have spoken with an AD to remedy the situation.
Let me conclude by saying yes we did get paid for the day, but its not always about the money folks, its about respect for the human condition. We were left like cattle standing around in near gale force wind conditions. Did you know that the Geneva Conventions consider it torture if you force Prisioners of War to stand for four hours! The people at Gitmo are treated better.
I was not pleased with Dona's response, I think that a letter should have been sent to the Production Company letting them know that this sort of treatment of SAG members will not be tollerated.

Kevin