A Letter from Your Washington-Mid Atlantic President

SAG-AFTRA Washington-Mid Atlantic Local Members,

As the heat rises and summer kicks in with all this sweltering heat and humidity, I hope you are all able to take it easy and stay cool! I’m sure that most of you are already well aware that SAG-AFTRA reached an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on June 11 and that the SAG-AFTRA National Board approved the tentative agreement by a super majority of 67.61% to 32.39%. It is now up to the membership to ratify this three-year contract, and voting postcards are already in the mail. As your local president, I am endorsing a “YES” vote on the contract.

This contract is a great deal at any time, but in the middle of a global pandemic, it’s an amazing deal! At a time of economic upheaval and dramatic declines in industry revenue, we were able to secure huge gains. The $318 million that will be provided by this contract is meaningful in areas like wages and benefits for all members. That’s real dollars in members’ pockets!

Our negotiators stayed focused on the future. Our team used their leverage to build up streaming residuals and position us where the growth and the money are. Getting a 26% increase in fixed streaming residuals over the first three years is not only terrific, but just what our members were asking for. This is where the work is going and we need to make sure our money follows. This is truly a forward-thinking contract!

An important item to me is knowing that our pension and health plans stay strong. The projected funding increase of $97 million to the benefit plans for the next three years, including a $54 million increase for the health plan, is much needed and very meaningful to all our members.

There are many more important gains in the contract highlighted in the 2020 TV/Theatrical Referendum that you can find at sagaftra.org/contracts2020. I encourage everyone to attend an online informational meeting to discuss details of the contract on Tuesday, July 14, at 5 p.m. Please register for it at sagaftra.org/contracts2020.

All eligible members were mailed a postcard on July 1 with a PIN number and instructions on how to vote online or how to request a paper ballot. If you don’t have your PIN, you may retrieve it at the voting website. Whether submitted online or by mail, ballots must be received by 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, July 22, 2020.

I will be voting “YES” on this landmark contract, and I hope you will join me with your “YES” vote as well!
 
 
Yours in solidarity,

Lance Lewman
President, Washington-Mid Atlantic Local