Summer in the Cities

By Rodger Brand
National Board Member & Broadcast Steering Committee Member

The summer of 2015 is travel time for your National Board member. I was in Los Angeles in July for the latest National Board meeting, and I can tell you that our membership and revenue continue to grow, both nationally and here in the Missouri Valley Local. And, as a union, SAG-AFTRA is continuing to come in better than projected for our revenue and expenses. In short, we are spending less than we are bringing in, and have been given a clean bill of health by an outside auditing firm. Don’t you wish you could say that about your government? I will be attending the next Broadcast Steering Committee meetings in New York City this August as well.

Meetings and discussions continue on the potential merger of the SAG and AFTRA health plans, although at this point it is unclear how the recent announcement of Anthem’s purchase of Cigna will factor in to things, if at all, for the H&R trustees on the AFTRA side. I hope to hear more news on this topic later this year, when we will be having our second biennial convention in Los Angeles early this fall. I look forward to meeting and working with new and incumbent National Board members.

And finally, I would like to mention the growing concerns over “right-to-work” legislation, not only here in Missouri, but around the country. Union jobs were 20.1 percent of the national work force in 1983 and have dwindled to 11.1 percent as of last year. We are grateful that our brothers and sisters in the entertainment industry continue to join and see the strengths and benefits of belonging to SAG-AFTRA. But proponents of “right-to-work” can hardly claim that unions are a hindrance to work. Almost 89 percent of the jobs in America are non-union! And if all employers treated their employees with respect, paid a fair living wage, provided them with affordable health care for themselves and their families, offered a decent retirement plan, and provided a safe and healthy working environment, then unions would be out of business. But the fact of the matter is they don’t and we’re not. I hope that our union will be a part of educating and informing our legislators and the public in the coming months and years that union membership is a privilege and a blessing for those of us fortunate enough to be a part of such an integral and growing part of the entertainment industry. If you haven’t recently, I hope you will all take a moment to visit SAGAFTRA.org and see all the great things your union is up to.

Stay cool!

This item was originally featured in the August 2015 local newsletter.