Membership Meeting Recap

Over 200 enthusiastic members attended the New York Local’s Spring Membership Meeting on April 29 — the very first membership meeting held at the new office at 1900 Broadway. The occasion was marked by appearances from special guests President Ken Howard and National Executive Director David White. New York Local President Mike Hodge presided over the meeting and noted that the meeting represented something of an experiment, introducing a new location, time, agenda and format.

To accommodate the robust turnout, members were seated in two rooms (the boardroom and the multipurpose room) and connected by videoconference. After hearing the traditional reports from staff, elected leadership and invited guests, members were offered the choice of two “breakout” rooms. In the boardroom, members were able to hear reports from AFTRA Health & Retirement and SAG Pension & Health, and were given a chance to ask questions about the anticipated merger of the two plans, as well as other topics. In the multipurpose room, members heard brief presentations from each of the contracts departments about what the union could offer and how to learn more.

Howard spoke about the (at-the-time-upcoming) TV/Theatrical Contract negotiations. White reported on the promising financial outlook of the union, as well as the vastly improved residual check processing times. Several local committees gave presentations on the many available programs and classes, and both the AFTRA Foundation and the SAG Foundation reminded members of the many benefits available to them. The Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund, The Actors Fund and the Actors Federal Credit Union all gave reports on their respective services.

The response from the members was overwhelmingly positive, with many praising the new format. Many appreciated the chance to expand their knowledge about specific contracts and union benefits.

If you attended the meeting, you are welcome to give feedback at newyork@sagaftra.org.

This article was originally featured in the August 2014 local e-newsletter.