A Message From the Missouri Valley Local President

Dear Member,

Hello and happy New Year to all. I have been serving the Missouri Valley Local Board for six years. Last month, our president, Andrew Zimmerman, stepped down and I was appointed by the Board as his replacement. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Andrew for his service to our local. I will do my best to fill his shoes. We wish Andrew the best of luck as he moves on to new opportunities in the broadcast world.

I want to see that Missouri Valley members are provided with support, empowerment and value for your membership. I believe that starts with:

• Implementing a conservatory program with sensible and meaningful education about our union, local, contracts and benefits, as well as career-oriented sessions that will help further your professional paths.
• Organizing work already in our local and continuing to work with members of Congress of every state in our local to pass film incentive programs that would bring more work to us all.
• Creating committees that excite you about our union and inspire you to be an integral part of our local.

Keeping you informed on what’s happening within our union and our local is important, but I also want to hear from you. I want to listen to your ideas for our local and what programs you would like to see implemented. I want to address any concerns and issues you might have. You may reach out to me at mv@sagaftra.org anytime. Our local gets stronger with active, enthusiastic members.

On that note, SAG-AFTRA has begun the opening-back-up process. In the current issue of SAG-AFTRA magazine, National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland reports, “The return to office will be an orderly and phased-in process.” As specific on-site programs and events are able to resume, we will keep you updated on in-person membership meetings and orientations. Since Missouri Valley covers multiple states, we will continue to offer virtual membership meetings to accommodate our members. We are currently planning a virtual membership meeting for late spring. Please keep watching your emails for more details.

In case you were not aware, our TV/Theatrical contracts expire on June 30. SAG-AFTRA is conducting the TV/Theatrical wages and working conditions (W&W) process in preparation for the negotiation of these contracts. The W&W meetings are open discussions to formulate proposals for contractual changes you would like to see put forth to the negotiating committee. W&W meetings for our local ended on Jan 10, but if you missed the Zoom meetings, you can still submit a proposal recommendation by email to tvtheatrical2023@sagaftra.org, no later than Friday, Jan. 27. Thank you to those who were able to participate. These meetings offer everyone a voice in the process.

In preparation for the TV/Theatrical negotiations, the SAG-AFTRA National Board has created a National Self-Tape Committee to coordinate the ongoing work of various union committees around self-taping. I’m happy to announce that I have been added as an observer to this committee. If you have any ideas or suggestions that you would like passed along, please let me know.

I wish everyone a healthy and prosperous 2023. Let’s get to work!

Shelley Waggener
Missouri Valley Local President