National Board Member's Message

National Board Member’s Message

My hopes for one and all that you had a happy and safe holiday season!

Allow me to begin with a personal indulgence.

For the past decade, I have been working on earning a Ph.D. in education. Last month, I became Dr. Art Lynch. My apologies to all who may have seen less of me on the set or had phone calls lost between the cracks. I have been and will continue to use my education and experience to represent all of us in the complexities and politics of the SAG-AFTRA National Board.

Film Incentives

In February, the Nevada State Legislature will begin its session. Join your local officers and board members, our executive and myself in lobbying for strong film incentives.

Incentives bring union production. Ask anyone living in New Mexico or other states where the industry has grown and prospered and union workers benefitted.

Coast to coast they have worked for states willing to invest in their citizens. We need incentives in Nevada to compete. The National Board and National Legislative Task Force are behind us. We have to be the ground soldiers if we want to see an increase in production jobs in Nevada.

Join me in talking with legislators and setting the groundwork to bring union work to Nevada.
Contact President Grant or Steve Clinton to see how you can help. The time for action is now.

Change and Growth

This is a new union, with a new structure that is still being refined, adjusted and altered to meet the needs of the membership, of all of us.

We are close to finishing our first year as a new union. The union is neither SAG nor AFTRA, but a collective group of performers tailored to meet the needs of the new world of merging media and technologies. We are entering our first commercial negotiations as a new union, and have already gained valuable ground in the areas of music video and organizing. The future will take work, by all of us, in ways that SAG alone did not demand.

As we are familiar with legacy organizations, much of the structure and policies are new to Nevada. The most important is the concept of a convention, held once every two years, of the membership.

The convention can override the National Board of Directors, set policy and take many other actions. Any eligible member may become a delegate, but you must run for election as a delegate to the convention, to be held this September in Los Angeles, to be involved. 

The Battle for Unions

Without public hearings and during a lame-duck session of the legislature, Michigan became the first state at the heart of the industrial union belt to go “right-to-work.” Indiana preceded it earlier in the year and Wisconsin reaffirmed a governor who seriously undermined the core rights of workers to collectively bargain.

SAG-AFTRA is a union. Many want to pretend otherwise, but look into history and you will see that both unions, who merged earlier this year, were begun as just that, unions. We have over 80 years of history of being a part of and standing up for the rights of all workers.

Whenever non-union, pre-union or “SAG eligible” talent works, they are taking out of the pockets of union performers. Since they can work both union and non-union, they can earn union pay and benefits under hard-fought union contracts, while supporting potential employers who use the available “trained talent pool” as an excuse to not use SAG-AFTRA members.

As one columnist put it, so-called “right-to-work” is theft. Can I walk into your country club and use all the services without paying, while you as a member have to pay for that membership and those services? Non-union talent can work without having to join the union, gaining all the benefits we have earned over the years. Can I get a lawyer or doctor who does non-union commercials to give me their services for less than they claim they are worth? How long would that doctor, lawyer or country club stay in business if they gave it all away for free?

In a “right-to–work” state, non-union talent does not have to pay initiation or dues to gain the full benefits of union work.

As members of the largest entertainment union in the world, you are a part of this battle, whether you like it or not. Your future income and that of all talent is at stake.

Support politicians who will vote against “right-to-work.” Get active in the AFL-CIO and other battles to undo this unfair legislation. Turn down non-union work. Report members who work “off the card.” Let your voice be heard, it’s our union. And unions need our help.

Elections

This summer, every office and board seat, nationally and locally, will be up for election. Consider the time required and expertise to serve, the need for greater participation by the membership at committee and task force levels, and how you can help our local executive to organize and grow our market and our local work. Then find the best place for you by running for the local board, volunteering for a committee or working with the president and executive to open doors and open eyes on the value of union talent in our right-to-work-for-less-and-be-fired-at-will state.
 
The Future

We face a bright future, going into each contract as one union instead of two.

We bring the strength of the largest performers’ union in our industry, made up of a wide range of professionals in multiple areas of this increasingly monolithic industry. We join others in fighting the strong anti-union forces gaining strength and eroding the ability of all of us to organize to earn fair wages, safe working conditions and strong futures doing what we are skilled at and love doing. We are prepared for the growing power on the other side of the negotiating table, the merging of technologies, the change and growth of where and how we work and how we earn our income as actors and performers. We are SAG-AFTRA, the union for the future.

As we enter 2013, be proud and join me in being thankful that we finally have joined into one unified force for all members, and for all future performers. 

Solidarity,
 
Art Lynch
National Board Director, Nevada

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