Involvement: A Note from Our National Board Member

Here’s hoping everyone is having a happy and prosperous New Year. At the last National Board meeting, the “powers that be” indicated that the new year will bring renewed emphasis and focus on organizing as well as increased member engagement. This should be welcome news to all of us.

If you review the recently approved Network Television Code, you will undoubtedly note the improvements achieved in the areas involving dramatic shows, stand-ins, minors, on-demand shows, linear streaming, subscription video on demand and secondary digital series. Kudos to the members of the Negotiating Committee!

The membership vote was 96 percent in favor of the new code. Sadly, however, only 12.45 percent of our membership voted. It is important for EVERY member to review and vote on our negotiated contracts.

Participation in creating audiobooks is close to 100 percent union-organized throughout the country. This is the result of great work by the organizing team.

I am happy to report that we continue to see improvement in the processing time for residuals. In 2013, 3.5 million checks were mailed to our members. I do not have the figures for 2014 yet, but I am sure it will be equally impressive.

SAG-AFTRA continues to be one of the few (if not the only) national unions to experience an increase in membership during the past few years. Unions continue to be under attack throughout the country. In case you are wondering, we now have approximately 160,000 active members nationwide. The New Orleans Local has approximately 850 members. One of our top priorities for the coming year is to increase our local’s membership.

The title of my article is “Involvement.” How can you get involved?

Your Local Board is seeking input from you, our members, as to what you would like to see in our newsletters.

We would also like you to tell us what your Local Board members can do to improve our local. Please let us know what your priorities are: Acting workshops, informal gatherings, etc. We welcome your feedback.

Fraternally yours,

Charles Ferrara, National Board Member and Local Vice President

This item was originally featured in the spring 2015 local newsletter.