Message from the National Board Member

Dear Members,

We are at the start of an exciting new year for our union, and I would like to take this moment to report, from my perspective, what has been happening. I was thrilled to attend the national board meeting in early February (as this issue of Twin Cities News and Views went to press). The meeting was held simultaneously in both L.A. and New York, allowing national board members from around the country to meet live on both coasts via videoconference. This was the first national board meeting since our convention.

Over the past few months I have been involved in several national committees: Performance Capture, Member Review and the Committee of Locals. The Performance Capture Committee, as its name suggests, is tasked with addressing issues, concerns and goals related to performance capture work throughout our contracts. The Member Review Committee is generally tasked with reviewing the impact of restructuring (of obvious importance to ours and other locals without a physical office, as well as to the union as a whole). Finally, the Committee of Locals is a group comprised of national board members from small and medium-sized locals across the country, and is our forum to address ideas, raise issues and discuss plans. The reason I mention these committees is that if anyone has input or even general thoughts related to these areas, please, let's talk.

We had our own local membership meeting this past November (with space graciously provided once again by the Jungle Theater). It was attended by National Executive Vice President Gabrielle Carteris. She unfortunately arrived in Minneapolis from L.A. feeling a bit under the weather, but you would never have known it from the way she carried herself, as well as her energy and her enthusiasm during the meeting. I know there wasn't much else she could do; still, once again, it gave me joy being reminded that we have the support of each other and that there are many who are selfless and want all of us to have success. During the meeting, we had quite a bit of spirited discussion, as well as energizing ideas and commitment by members to work toward accomplishing those ideas. Much of the discussion focused on communication and support within our local; between our union members as well as with those producing work. We also discussed at length the evolution of non-broadcast industrial work, which is now referred to as the Corporate/Educational and Non-Broadcast Contract. The contract was recently extended into 2015, and during that extension period we want to discover what works and what doesn't work about the contract here in the Twin Cities — and determine how our realities compare with members' experiences in the rest of the country. Given the fact that what serves as “educational” content is constantly evolving, the hope is that we could develop a contract that is viable today, flexible for the future, and works appropriately with the nuances in each local. In any case, it was wonderful to have the members’ input. Next time, please do yourself and us a favor: Join us at the membership meeting! Knowing more about your union is a superb way to take a bit of control in your career.

One area on which I intend to continue focusing is how we communicate — not only locally but especially nationally. While it is important to continue to save money by having the union communicate via long distance (i.e., teleconference, email, word of mouth, etc.), it is difficult to communicate everyone's ideas clearly when we are not face to face. Consequently, I've started assembling ideas for ways to enhance this communication when we can't all be in the same physical location. Technology obviously is a part of it, but I also want to develop an attitude/manner/demeanor for how we work together in this fashion. It is very much like learning a new language. For those who have grown up with technology, much of this can be second nature to a certain extent, but for many folks this method is tremendously foreign. I do believe it is possible to find a bridge to make this communication work. In addition, we have responsibilities to make sure that the way we communicate is respectful — both ethically and legally — to each other's privacy and that we convey correct information. Even something as “simple” as shooting mass emails back and forth really has to be thought through.

Again, I ask if anyone has thoughts or ideas, please contact me at twincities@sagaftra.org. I look forward to giving you my upcoming impressions.

Cheers,
Randal Berger

This item was originally featured in the February 2014 local newsletter.