SAG-AFTRA

Spring 2019

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sagaftra.org | Spring 2019 | SAG-AFTRA 3 G A B R I E L L E C A R T E R I S A Letter from the President "The same technologies revolutionizing our work and our contracts are also improving the way we serve our membership." Dear Member, W hat an exciting time to serve as your president. Our union is stepping into the future and setting new standards for the entertainment and media industry. We recently negotiated a modernized agreement with the Joint Policy Committee for successor Commercials Contracts, which were unanimously approved by the National Board. The terms of this landmark agreement offer real solutions to the challenges facing all of us in today's advertising industry, creating more work opportunities for our members and laying the groundwork for broader jurisdiction for our union. That means more money in the pockets of commercials performers and a stronger collective voice for all SAG-AFTRA members. Members working under this new agreement can expect across-the-board wage increases for all categories of work, increases to the benefit plans, coverage of stunt coordinators, outsized gains to group dancers, protections against workplace sexual harassment, streamlined processes for commercial agents representing SAG-AFTRA members, and a flexible alternative compensation model that benefits our members while recognizing the challenges for ad agencies. As I chaired the commercial nego- tiations, it was clear: These gains would not have been possible without the leadership of our 33-member Negotiating Committee and the diligence and research of our negotiations staff. I want to give special thanks to National Executive Director David White, Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez, Chief Economist David Viviano, Associate National Executive Director Mathis Dunn, Senior Advisor John McGuire, Executive Director of Commercials Contracts Lori Hunt, and our Communications & Marketing team for their exceptional work on behalf of members. We now have a modern and transformative agreement for the complex and interconnected world in which we live. These provisions help us address the specific technological advances that are driving significant changes in our industries, and I urge you to join me in voting "yes" on the Commercials Contracts. The same technologies revolutionizing our work and our contracts are also improving the way we serve our membership. SAG-AFTRA recently launched a nationwide program for members to receive residuals via direct deposit. As you know, our union has led the effort to make direct deposit of residuals a standard in the industry. Working with respected institutional partners, we put the infrastructure into place and successfully ran pilot programs nationwide to ensure a secure, stable, and high-quality experience that now allows our members to receive residual payments quickly and easily. Direct deposit of residuals is just the latest in a series of initiatives the union is undertaking to modernize operations. Other technology rollouts have included online dues payment from the SAG-AFTRA member mobile app and in the coming weeks, we will launch our online event management system that includes QR code scanning of a member's card at SAG-AFTRA events. These are just some of the innovations we have planned to help make the activities of membership more convenient, efficient and streamlined. Finally, I want to share the news that I will be spending some time this summer with our members working on production sets in Vancouver. As you may have read, I will be shooting the new Beverly Hills, 90210 over the next couple of months. I am thrilled of course, as any actor would be, to be appearing in any series, particularly one with which I have so much personal and professional history. But this is also an opportunity for me to gain even more direct experience with the working conditions of our members who must work away from their home cities. Such insights will be directly relevant to our upcoming TV/Theatrical negotiations, which are soon upon us. I expect to be shooting most weekdays beginning in late May. Working in a city with so many productions starring SAG-AFTRA members presents a new opportunity to do the work that I love most: connecting with and fighting for actors. Whether in my office at our union headquarters in Los Angeles, meeting with congressional leaders in Washington, D.C., or on a working set in Vancouver, the work of the union is always front and center. I hope you enjoy your summer. Strength in unity, Gabrielle Carteris

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