Message from Co-President Cateris

Dear Fellow Members,

I can’t believe it has been a year since we merged our two unions and became SAG-AFTRA. It is amazing how quickly time passes. This is the perfect time for us to pause and reflect on the past year. As you know, the creation of this new union was no small feat. Once the membership voted to unite SAG and AFTRA, the real work began. Across the country, locals comprised of legacy SAG branches and AFTRA locals were put together. Here in Los Angeles, we integrated our legacy staffs into one cohesive work force — helping us recognize what is needed in L.A. while improving communications with our members and the union. While constitutions were crafted and approved, across the country we began the Commercial Wages and Working Conditions (W&W) meetings, set up our commercial negotiating team and are currently in the midst of negotiating one of our biggest contracts in SAG-AFTRA.

Recently, I visited New York for the beginning of the negotiations and must say we have an incredible team of members and staff working on our behalf. It is clear that the W&W Committee and staff worked diligently in assembling the interests of members around the country. The participation of members in this process was extremely important to the comprehensive package presented to the Joint Policy Committee (JPC). Negotiations should be completed in early April, and we hope to provide a contract for your approval shortly thereafter.

In addition, we have been organizing broadcast shops in Los Angeles and negotiating local broadcast contracts. We have an incredible opportunity to negotiate the first KPCC-FM contract in Los Angeles with a 70-member-strong unit. During this time, our staff also negotiated broadcast contracts for our members at KPFK-FM and Total Traffic Network.

What I am struck with, in our preparing for these negotiations, is how you as members recognize how rapidly our industry is changing. I am hoping and encouraging you, as the backbone of what makes this union strong, to get involved. 

As a local, we supported SEIU workers at the Motion Picture Television Fund Hospital, along with other sister unions in our industry. It is apparent that now more than ever we must stand strong within our union and unite our voices with the labor movement if we are to be effective in maintaining what we have worked for and organized, as we move forward.

This leads us to the first and perhaps the most important elections of this new union. The election process of leadership will be familiar, yet different from past elections. We realize there are questions regarding the new election process and be assured that members will be kept fully informed. The national magazine, due later this spring, and beginning in May the SAG-AFTRA website will explain in detail the election process and hopefully answer your questions.

With elections, convention, an L.A. Local membership meeting in June and ongoing and new programs coming, we urge you to read all communications from the union.

I want to thank you for helping build our union, SAG-AFTRA. As Henry Adams once said, “Unity is vision.”

In solidarity,

Gabrielle Carteris

This item was originally featured in the April 2013 local newsletter.