SAG-AFTRA

Summer 2013

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For Members N EW S , I N F O R M AT I O N A N D B E N EF I T S SAG-AFTRA MEMBERS RE-ELECT HOWARD, AQUINO IN NATIONAL ELECTIONS S AG-AFTRA members have voted to re-elect Ken Howard to lead the union. Howard, who served as co-president along with Roberta Reardon after the merger, will now be the sole person in the highest office, becoming the new union's first elected national president. Also re-elected was Amy Aquino, who will continue her duties as secretarytreasurer. Aquino previously served as co-secretary-treasurer alongside Matt Kimbrough. Members put Howard in office with 57 percent of the vote, while Aquino received about 62 percent. Both assumed office Aug. 15, after the election results were announced. Ballots for the national officers election were mailed to 139,967 eligible voters on July 16, and 28,755 were returned by the Aug. 15 deadline, for a return of 20.54 percent. President Howard said, "I'm gratified that members across the country have reelected me to lead our union and continue building on the strong foundation we created through merger. I want to congratulate Secretary-Treasurer Amy Aquino on her re-election and offer my sincere thanks to all the candidates KEN HOWARD AMY AQUINO who ran for office. I look forward to joining the delegates who will assemble in Los Angeles for the first SAG-AFTRA convention in late September, and then moving forward with the new leadership team to do the important work that NATIONAL BOARD MEETS T he SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors met in Los Angeles and New York via videoconference on July 27, the final meeting of the combined boards of its predecessor organizations before the new board was installed Aug. 15. At the meeting, the board received an unqualified opinion with respect to the audit conducted by the union's accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers and received a report that the foreign royalties program has distributed more than $17.5 million to performers since inception. In addition, National Executive Director David White reported on administrative and operations matters, highlighting the level of activity in SAG-AFTRA's four major contract areas — entertainment, broadcast news, commercials and sound recordings — including activity related to contract negotiations and enforcement, and to several successful organizing campaigns. The board reviewed and approved proposed rules for conducting business at the inaugural SAG-AFTRA convention (see page 20), and approved two proposed constitutional amendments, which will move forward to the convention for action. members have entrusted to us." Secretary-Treasurer Aquino said, "This is an extremely exciting time for our union, and I'm deeply grateful to my fellow members for their vote of confidence in what we've already achieved, and for the continued opportunity to help focus SAG-AFTRA's resources to build the effective organization that we all need and deserve." SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director David White welcomed the officers, saying, "I would like to extend my congratulations to the newly elected board of directors and especially to President Howard and Secretary-Treasurer Aquino. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Ken and Amy over the past several years and look forward to the opportunity to continue our efforts. I know that I speak for the entire staff team when I say that we are honored to work with the first Continues on page 37 COMMERCIALS CONTRACTS RATIFIED SAG-AFTRA members voted overwhelmingly to ratify new, three-year contracts negotiated with the advertising industry covering commercials. When the votes were tallied on April 1, some 96 percent voted in favor of the new contracts. The approval of the contracts, retroactive to April 1, is the culmination of a process that began in August 2012, with members weighing in on the issues most important to them during the W&W process. Based on last year's figures, the new contract can be expected to generate approximately $3.5 billion in compensation and plan funding over three years. Read our in-depth feature on page 22. SAGAFTRA.org | Summer 2013 | SAG-AFTRA For Members_F1.indd 11 11 8/30/13 11:02 AM

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