A Note from Your National Board Member

For those of you not present at the June 2 Nevada Local membership meeting, I am asking for your feedback regarding the change to the April 2018 SAG-AFTRA membership card.

During the meeting, I asked our attending members if they noticed anything different on their new SAG-AFTRA membership cards. The majority of us, when we receive our card, take a quick gander and put it away, taking for granted our renewed card will be the same as before. They all took out their cards and realized there was a difference. When I first looked at my new card and saw “Nevada” on it, I was shocked. I could not believe that we were going back in time. 

A little history regarding legacy SAG cards from my knowledge as a Nevada member. In the 1990s, I was a council member and vice president. I had many members at that time tell me they believed they were Nevada SAG members and not national members, eventually planning to move to L.A. to become national members.

Prior to 2000, SAG legacy membership cards showed the member’s name, Social Security number, membership number, branch and expiration date. The Social Security number was removed in 1997. In 2004, “member since” was added. From 2000–2017, the membership card information basically remained the same, including after SAG merged with AFTRA.

For 17 years, the membership card represented signs of strength, unity, equality and oneness. For new members, there was a sense of pride, knowing they have the same card as any high-profile actor, boosting their self-esteem and propelling their auditioning journey.

We are one union, a national union. By having “Nevada” on our cards, it shows a sign of separation, such as separating a unit from the whole, a sign of division, being set apart from something greater. This can easily become an avenue of discrimination.

What are your thoughts about the new card? Are you pro, con or indifferent? I invite you to respond on this issue at your earliest opportunity to nevada@sagaftra.org. Thank you for your support and input.

In solidarity,
Steve Dressler