A Letter from your Michigan Local President

As spring is beginning in Michigan and Windsor, I am looking forward to warmer weather, more work opportunities and the ability to engage with our local members. Your Michigan Local Board and our dedicated staff have been hard at work on your behalf and have been meeting as a board every other month throughout the pandemic. I am excited to announce that locals can begin to schedule member events. Since the pandemic is still not over, these meetings and events will be held virtually with the hope of moving to in-person at a later time. Watch your emails for more information about virtual gatherings for our local this spring and summer. Conservatory trainings will begin this summer. I am excited to be at a point where we can start to gather as a local and reestablish our connections with fellow SAG-AFTRA Michigan Local members.

On the broadcast front, contracts were successfully negotiated and ratified at our Bell Media stations in Windsor and at WWJ 950 in Detroit. I want to thank our shop stewards, the members at the stations and our dedicated SAG-AFTRA broadcast staff for their hard work and determination throughout these difficult negotiations. Our members made their voices heard to their employers!

I want to personally congratulate Huel Perkins and Monica Gayle who recently retired from Fox2. They were on the air together for over 25 years and have both been strong union supporters and incredible examples of how to have a successful career in the broadcast industry. Thank you, Huel and Monica, for everything you have done for Detroit and for our local!

As I’m sure everyone has heard, Senate Bills 862-863 and House Bills 5724-5725 were recently introduced in Lansing to bring back film incentives. We have been working with the Michigan Film Industry Association for several years now to help to bring incentives back to our state. We need to make our voices heard to our elected leaders in Lansing to let them know how incentives are a job-creation platform and not money going to Hollywood. As such, MIFIA is planning to hold town halls across the state in April and May. Please save the dates and plan to attend. Share this with fellow actors and individuals in businesses which benefit from incentives (production companies, hotels, lumber yards, caterers, florists, restaurants, etc.). It would be great to have packed houses to show support for this important legislation. The events are scheduled on April 21 in Metro Detroit, May 9 in Traverse City and May 11 in Grand Rapids. I will send out another email when locations and times are announced.

Finally, happy 10th birthday, SAG-AFTRA! It’s hard to believe it’s already been 10 years since SAG and AFTRA merged. Together we are STRONGER!

In unity,

Eric Wydra
SAG-AFTRA Michigan Local President