SAG-AFTRA Members Convene with Fellow California Labor Leaders

On July 26 and 27, SAG-AFTRA joined over 200 unions and approximately 420 delegates at the California Labor Federation’s 2022 biennial convention at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. Local member participants included L.A. Local Board members Zeke Alton and Richard Hadfield, and L.A. County Federation of Labor delegates Shea Scullin and Ellen Crawford, who also currently serves as a vice president of the California Labor Federation’s Executive Council.

In addition to committee action recommendations, resolutions and legislative committee reports, this much-anticipated gathering of union leaders delivered meaningful programming that included:

• A panel on organizing young workers, with panelists sharing social media strategies.
• One-on-one discussion with Amazon Labor Union leader Chris Smalls, with a theme of how to organize the unorganized. 
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom as a lunchtime keynote speaker.

As the first day of convention business closed, delegates took to the streets of San Francisco to protest Amazon’s effort to purchase a health care company that would give them access to patient data. 

Tuesday night’s festivities brought a dinner program that featured guest speaker and labor activist Dolores Huerta, who is cofounder of the United Farm Workers Association and a recipient of the 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many other awards and recognitions. The evening ended with a bittersweet celebration of the retirement of Art Pulaski, who has served as the executive secretary-treasurer and chief officer of the California Labor Federation since 1996.

The convention came to a close on July 27, after electing Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher as the first woman and first person of color to the role of chief officer — and igniting the delegates with the theme of #NewDayForCALabor.

Top photo: The SAG-AFTRA delegation included, from left, L.A. Local Board member and L.A. GAPP Committee member Richard Hadfield, California Labor Federation Executive Council Vice President Ellen Crawford, SAG-AFTRA L.A. Local delegate for the L.A. County Federation of Labor Shea Scullin, LA GAPP Committee member Harish Mandyam and L.A. Local Board member and L.A. GAPP Committee member Zeke Alton.