May We Introduce … National Board Member Mary McDonald Lewis

How long have you been a SAG-AFTRA member?

I joined the Screen Actors Guild in 1982, and AFTRA soon after. 

How did you earn your SAG-AFTRA card?

The Guild was my parent union, as my first job was in animation, which was covered by that union. I had been hired to play Lois Lane on Super Friends, and taking the tour of the Guild’s offices in Hollywood was one of the proudest days my life. In AFTRA I worked principally as a voice actor, which has also been incredibly gratifying.

What does SAG-AFTRA membership mean to you?

Membership in the unions, now merged as SAG-AFTRA, means much more than fair wages and working conditions, though that’s certainly the principle reason for anyone to join. As importantly, to me it means I have a sisterhood and brotherhood throughout the United States. In any region I travel to, I have “family members” who I can turn to any time I need. The same goes for the union itself: It is there for me through thick and thin.

Why did you decide to serve on the Portland Local Board?

That’s the reason I got involved in union work as a volunteer very early in my membership. While still living in Los Angeles, I helped to negotiate the very first negotiated animation contract, which resulted in limiting the number of voices we could perform from one paycheck to three, rather than creating 10 voices or more for one rate. I continued that effort by helping to bring the Screen Actors Guild office to Portland after I moved here, and by joining the local boards of both unions. As the SAG-AFTRA National Board member for Portland, I currently sit on two negotiating committees, animation and commercials, along with other committees on the National Board.

Any parting thoughts you’d like to share with your fellow SAG-AFTRA members?

There is a story that when Henry David Thoreau was thrown in jail for failing to pay his poll tax in protest to slavery in the United States, Ralph Waldo Emerson visited him in his cell and asked him why he had made the decision. “What are you doing in jail, Henry?” he asked. Thoreau replied, “Emerson, what are you doing out of jail?”

“Why do you work so hard for the union?” might be a question asked of me sometimes. I can only answer, “Why do you not?” This organization was created to help all of us have safe and good lives. Any effort we put into it will come back to us a hundredfold. It’s not always easy, being in the union. But it’s never hard to understand why joining it and supporting it was the best business and personal decision I ever made.