AFL-CIO: Organize and Rise!

The 29th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia June 12–15, bringing delegates nationwide together for the first time since 2017.

Themed “Building the Movement to Meet the Moment” and featuring guest speakers including U.S. President Joe Biden, U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Georgia candidate for governor Stacey Abrams, the convention emphasized expanding on the momentum the labor movement has built over the past year. Delegates representing 57 unions — SAG-AFTRA among them — and 12.5 million workers made history in electing Liz Shuler and Fred Redmond to become the first woman elected AFL-CIO president and first Black secretary-treasurer of the union, respectively. Former SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris was reelected to the AFL-CIO’s Executive Council as vice president.

The SAG-AFTRA Philadelphia Local played host to the union’s convention delegation, which included Carteris; Executive Vice President Ben Whitehair; Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher; Vice President, New York Ezra Knight; Vice President, Actors/Performers William Charlton; Vice President, Broadcasters Bob Butler; Vice President, Recording Artists/Singers Janice Pendarvis; Philadelphia Local President Nicole Izanec; National Board member Mike Kraycik; Philadelphia Local member Cecil Parker; and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

How technology is reshaping labor played a key role at the convention. Shuler led a fireside chat on technology and the future of work featuring Carteris. Whitehair participated as a panelist on building power for workers amid the global economy’s digital trade agreements. The AFL-CIO and SAG-AFTRA partner on the annual Labor Innovation & Technology Summit. The convention’s expo was dubbed “Innovation Hall,” where union members networked and shared technological advancements.

SAG-AFTRA’s booth featured a demonstration of how members and industries are utilizing hologram technology. SAG-AFTRA member Howie Mandel (America’s Got Talent) “holoported” to the convention via Proto’s tabletop-sized Proto M hologram device for humorous interaction with convention delegates.

“SAG-AFTRA is always looking to the future, at where our industry is changing and at how the marketplace, in general, is affecting our sets,” said Whitehair.

“Whether that’s with different camera equipment or with technology that’s going to shift and change the way content can be distributed into homes, into hotels, into restaurants, into concert venues — SAG-AFTRA has to be there to protect us now and into the future.”

“SAG-AFTRA has taken a leading role in the labor movement in addressing how new technology affects workers,” added Crabtree-Ireland. “That’s why it’s so important for us to be part of this convention — we’re part of the broader labor movement and most of the cutting-edge technologies affect our industry first. It’s important for us to see those technologies coming down the road and make sure that we do everything in our power to influence how they’re developed, how they’re regulated, and how they play out. We must ensure the technology takes into account the human element so workers are protected in the ways they interact with those technologies.”

SAG-AFTRA also introduced four resolutions, which passed by acclamation, supporting music fairness and artists’ rights for compensation; recognizing the extraordinary work and safety of broadcast and online journalists; encouraging other unions to utilize union audiovisual production; and saluting SAG-AFTRA on its 10th anniversary.

On June 14, delegates left the Pennsylvania Convention Center and converged on the “Rocky” steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to join a rally demanding its board of trustees agree on a fair contract with its workers.

The convention is the most important democratic event the federation hosts, where delegates meet quadrennially to chart the course for the labor movement’s future. Among topics tackled were immigrant workers’ rights, harnessing the power of athletes and sports unions, labor and trans liberation, racial justice and women in the building trades.

SAG-AFTRA’s Knight moderated a panel on voter suppression organized by AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Redmond.

This item originally featured in the SAG-AFTRA magazine summer 2022 issue.