Local President Brent Anderson kicked off the meeting with an introduction to Board members and staff in attendance. A moment of silence was observed for members we lost since the last membership meeting in 2021.
Our National Board member, Hector Garcia, shared a report on the national organization and recognized members who joined the group since the last meeting. We were also lucky to have Suzanne Burkhead join us. Suzanne is a member of the DFW Local and National Vice-President for Small Locals. She’s intimately involved in the union’s work nationally and offered news and reports from the national perspective.
We were excited to introduce our new Executive, Tom Schwarz, who came on board the first of October. Tom also introduced our Manager of Contracts and Member Services, Amy Davidson-Williams. After a long search, we’re happy to have our staff team in place as we head into the new year.
Our Executive Director reported on some important happenings at the local level, like the news that offices around the country will begin re-opening in early 2023 and staff will begin traveling again with increased engagement and activity to help serve the membership.
Later this month, we will announce the commencement of our Wages and Working Conditions process for the TV/Theatrical contract in advance of negotiations that are scheduled for early 2023. This process will allow members who work these agreements to make their voices heard by sharing their perspectives and what they’d like to see in an updated agreement.
Last but not least, Tom announced that we are beginning preparations for our biennial elections. We encourage all members interested in getting more involved to join a committee or run for a seat on the local board during our elections, which will begin in late spring. We will also be electing convention delegates for our next convention coming up in October 2023.
Our DFW Local Conservatory Committee Chair, Sharon Garrison, took some time to discuss her plans for the coming year as we begin meeting in person again and searching for ways to better serve the membership. As a reminder, we’re always looking for members to engage in our committee work and will be sharing more news soon on opportunities heading into the new year.
We ended the program with a presentation from our friend Paul Jensen, Executive Director of the Texas Media Production Alliance. The TXMPA serves the film, TV, commercial, video game, interactive, and digital media production industries and works on behalf of their members to educate legislators and the general public on media production and the economic impact it has upon the state.
Paul spent the hour educating us on the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (TMOIIIP) and his work at the State Legislature to secure funding for this program which is vital in terms of the work it helps bring to our state. Members were particularly interested in what they could do to help support TXMPA’s work. According to Paul, the most important thing we can all do is reach out to our local representatives and thank them for their continued support of the program, which has a tremendous impact on work opportunities in the state. We can all help by making sure our elected representatives know what you do and what this program means to your livelihood.
Thanks to all of our attendees who spent the evening sharing their thoughts and experiences with our Dallas-Fort Worth SAG-AFTRA family. We’re looking forward to seeing everybody in person over the coming year and encourage everybody to contact our office if there’s anything YOUR UNION can do to help.
About SAG-AFTRA
SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.