A Letter From Your Twin Cities Local President

Coinciding with Labor Day earlier this month, a new Gallup poll showed American support for labor unions the highest it has been in 57 years.  

While support for unions is nothing new to us as SAG-AFTRA members, it is heartening to see the rest of the nation catching on to what we have long known: that unions remain the single best advocate for working people. A microcosm of that advocacy was on display here in the SAG-AFTRA Twin Cities Local in July.

July 2022 saw the end of filming of the motion picture Marmalade starring Joe Keery of Stranger Things fame. The crew was on location in the Twin Cities for several weeks and had a great time on set. But Marmalade wasn’t the first motion picture to be made in Minnesota this year. Downtown Owl starring Vanessa Hudgens and Ed Harris wrapped earlier in the spring, and Merry Kiss Cam was shot in Duluth.  

These films and several other projects are the first fruits from the Film Production Tax Credit that was signed into law by Gov. Walz on July 1 last year. All of the hard work and persistence from Twin Cities Local members is paying off. The Legislature is coming into another budgeting year in 2023, so we will have an opportunity to show legislators these successes as we push for a larger incentive package to encourage even more work in Minnesota. Stay tuned, because this effort will take all of us reaching out to legislators.

For the first time since the onset of the pandemic, our Local Outreach and Education Committee was able to present original professional development programming for members of the local. On July 22, 16 members gathered virtually for a voice workshop with Twin Cities voice coach Mira Kehoe. Over the course of 45 minutes, a group of local actors and broadcasters worked on vocal exercises to hone their tone, tenor and resonance. This workshop is just the first of what our local is planning as a full slate of professional development workshops for our members.  

Another major win for our local in July was brand-new contracts at three different MPR units covering nearly 100 workers. Our members in the newsroom successfully negotiated a very strong second contract that delivered real gains in pay and benefits.

We also welcomed our newest members at MPR music stations The Current and MPR YourClassical. Coming on the heels of the newsroom contract agreement, folks at the music stations successfully settled their first contract and began joining the union in the last week of July.

Our final big win of the month came July 29, when digital producers and assignment desk editors at WCCO TV voted unanimously to join the anchors, reporters and producers that SAG-AFTRA already represents at the station.

All of these victories — the film incentive, the member workshop, the MPR contracts, the WCCO organizing — were years in the making and required the persistent efforts of our Local Board, staff and members working together to make things better.  

As always, our efforts to secure better wages, better treatment and more rights for our members remain an uphill battle, but for now, in the Twin Cities, it feels like we finally have the wind at our backs.

In solidarity,

Peter Moore
SAG-AFTRA Twin Cities Local President