National Board Member Report

Hats off to the committee behind the SAG Awards party, Halloween parade float and other events that help us show our solidarity as union brothers and sisters. Hats off to those who show up at auditions or jobs early and are professional, doing our union proud. Hats off to those who help our fellow union brothers and sisters, and reach out and help others in the community. Hats off to those who include union issues, the expansion of our contracts and potential to work, as they weigh the stands of political candidates in our very anti-union national political environment. Hats off to those who serve, as officers on the council or on committees, as well as those who attend meetings and help to make the Screen Actors Guild a union unlike any other. I am proud to be your union brother and your representative on the National Board of Directors.

"Start spreading the news..."

It is time to merge, for the good of all talent. The industry has changed. Unions are under attack. There is strength in solidarity.

SAG and AFTRA's boards in separate meetings voted to send the merger plan for a new union, SAG-AFTRA, to the memberships of each union. Ballots will be mailed February 27, and will be due back by 10 a.m. March 30. Copies of the merger documents are available online. If you are a member, please vote "yes" for merger. If you are a member of both unions, vote “yes” in each union referendum. It may not be perfect, and there is cost involved, but far less than what will happen if merger does not occur.

Potential losses if we do not merge:

Dues will assuredly go up to keep the union financially in the black. It will cost to maintain two unions instead of one, and as we all know, costs are going up. We will be competing against AFTRA on an increasing number of contracts. If we want to work as often as we can, we will need to join both unions. With two unions, our chances of becoming vested and earning enough to qualify for insurance in any given year decreases. The industry is moving into areas producers wish to keep non-union or to minimize the ability of unions to negotiate decent money and a basic living for members.

Large, well-financed lobbying groups and larger employers will spend millions to keep any future work from going union. Do not underestimate their power or resolve. It will take time and money to keep the ground we now hold and to improve future opportunities, wages and working conditions.

Potential losses if we merge:

It will be the end of “a union for and by actors” as conceived by our founders in 1933, a time when the studio system was all-powerful, and the nation was in a Great Depression. But the new SAG-AFTRA will build on the proud history of both unions, continuing the tradition of representing talent in all entertainment and information media.

It's a new union, so there are no guarantees on staffing, local responsibility and control, or our future position as a Local of the new union. At the merger, however, Las Vegas (or Nevada) will remain a Local with "boots on the ground." Initially, almost nothing will change. If we lose membership, we could lose political voice and services, but if we remain the same or grow there remains a bright future of Nevada. The incentive is there to grow the union here in Nevada.

If you are only a member of SAG, dues will go up by about $50 a year. I know that times are tight, but to make up for the cost of securing work and protecting us all on the set, an increase in dues is inevitable. The percentage of earnings structure on income also changes.

Affected contract voting will be a part of the new union, as is the case under SAG and AFTRA's current constitutions. That means you vote on the contracts that affect you. I have long opposed qualified voting, as we all should have a voice in our union and, if you are like me, you voluntarily vote only on contract ballots you work or of which you are aware of the working conditions. In my view, nothing should change as we police ourselves in our contract votes. What qualified voting does is lock you out of voting on a contract you may not have worked on in recent years but plan to work in the future. The new union also seriously diminishes direct democracy in this and other ways.

The bond of the Regional Branch Division, which has supported expansion of the Nevada Zone, fully staffing Nevada and our independence from the Hollywood Division, will change. The RBD is being replaced by a committee that will not have a unified voice at the executive board level. The new system may turn out to be better, but there is a loss in a “family” that has worked so well to support each other in very hard times politically for the Guild.

Consider the options. The industry is changing and we need a union that can adapt to all production and distribution platforms, work well with new producers and have the strength to stand up to large corporations. We need the solidarity of all performers, regardless of experience or the area in which we work and profession we choose. Management looks at all of us as the same, so we need to stand up together and protect each other with strength and resolve.

We will benefit from the addition of the strength of recording artists, unionized broadcasters and others represented by our AFTRA brothers and sisters. These faces, voices and numbers will help in contract negotiations and, if needed, any potential future strike action.

So there are positives and negatives to merger. It is my hope that you will consider both.

There is a reason that more than 9 out of 10 board members, and 87 percent of the National Board weighted votes, agreed that a merger is best for the future of all members and both unions. It is what is needed to face a new century and the rapidly changing nature of our industries.

We will be the largest union in Hollywood. We will have locals in more cities than ever before, covering areas of production coast to coast.

Through solidarity we can survive the hard times and prosper when the tide turns in our favor. Start spreading the news for a "yes" vote on merger.

In solidarity,

Art Lynch
National Board of Directors
Screen Actors Guild, Nevada Branch

This item was originally featured in the February 2012 local newsletter.