Dear Members,
I hope you and yours are having a joyful and safe holiday season. The new year is a time for renewal, and with a tumultuous year behind us, that’s particularly welcome.
This has been an eventful year. We held our fifth biennial national convention, which took place online and with a lot of new faces on our leadership team.
We achieved numerous significant victories in 2021, including a groundbreaking new contract with NPR, and we successfully organized numerous TV and radio stations.
As it has since the start of the pandemic, the President’s Task Force on Education, Outreach & Engagement continued to host online events that offer useful career information and in-depth discussions about issues that matter to members.
This year, we continued to make important advances in protecting members’ safety. Our efforts to eliminate sexual harassment and abuse included introducing a new online and app-based reporting tool and we expanded our work with intimacy coordinators to make actors feel more comfortable in vulnerable situations. On the COVID front, we have worked side-by-side with our sister unions to evolve the safety protocols that have allowed work across much of the industry to return to pre-pandemic levels, while minimizing risks to our members and others working on set.
Looking ahead, we have a lot to do in the coming year, negotiating contracts; further developing COVID protocols to keep us safer in the workplace; ensuring that new technologies work for us, not against us; and finding new ways for the entertainment and media industry to reduce its environmental impact.
But for now, take this time to enjoy the spirit of the season, and let's remember those we've lost in 2021 and be thankful for those we love and all those who uplift us.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a safe and prosperous new year.
In solidarity,
Fran Drescher
President
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland
National Executive Director
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