Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/377629
SAGAFTRA.org | Summer 2014 | SAG-AFTRA 21 focused message. It really felt like there was a single entity that was looking out for members instead of two sometimes conflicting organizations. For the first time it really felt like a concerted effort moving toward a single goal. Hodge: We got the chance — all of us — to speak what was on our minds. It wasn't about the politics of getting somebody to come over to your side, it was about really coming to the best possible conclusion about any given issue. McGuire: I was involved in a lot of negotiations where they were joint negotiations — both SAG and AFTRA were there — frequently with one set of proposals they wanted to achieve. The format was similar, but the big difference is that when you're separate unions, even if they have the same proposals, everybody always has to be conscious of the needs of their unions, rather than the needs of the combined forces. Even on the best days when the unions worked very well together, there's always that feeling that nevertheless you were dealing with two distinct entities. As opposed to this time, when it was one union, one group, one set of issues and one goal. MEMBERS WERE INVOLVED IN SETTING THE PRIORITIES THROUGH CRAFTING PROPOSALS DURING WAGES AND WORKING CONDITIONS MEETINGS. HOW DID THAT INFORM NEGOTIATIONS? Howard: For the two months of the W&Ws, we heard from members everywhere. It's a crucial part of the process that equips the negotiating team with the knowledge they need to come to the most favorable agreement possible. As a working actor myself, I understand the issues we face, but I still need to hear from the members to know the top priorities of the majority of the membership. The lesson that we learned is that we have to be more disciplined in terms of the W&Ws, so that our proposals reflect the top priorities. Mike Pniewski: Each one of the issues members bring to us during the wages and working conditions process makes perfect sense individually and is perfectly legitimate on its own, but members need to understand that all provisions are taken in the context of a bargaining package. In every negotiation we have to spend time, energy and bargaining capital fending off provisions that management is trying to bring and which could potentially be very harmful to our members. Members should know that until you're in that room, you don't really understand how we agonize over having to make these "Sophie's Choices" on every issue, but that's part of the responsibility of negotiating the contract. Rodriguez: One of the aspects of W&Ws that is really so valuable for the union beyond simply contract preparation is that it is the entry point through which union activists first become involved with the union. It's also the way many of our most knowledgeable union activists have learned as much as they have about the contracts and how they're negotiated and information about the industry. White: Several of us walked away from the negotiations feeling like this is an opportunity for us to rethink how we organize the W&W process and how we organize the period of time where we gather information from our membership about life under these contracts. We need to do some form of education about what can actually be addressed during a single negotiation so that what's anticipated out of the negotiation is tempered with the practical nature of a three-year collective bargaining cycle against an entire industry. TOWARD THE END OF NEGOTIATIONS, THERE WERE SEVERAL 24-HOUR EXTENSIONS. WHAT WERE THOSE LAST FEW DAYS LIKE? White: The last few days were tense. There are a couple of things you need to do in the final moments of any negotiation. You need to make sure you keep in front of the entire group a sense of the overall deal and ensure that you are getting enough for this to be a good deal for the members. There are things that you absolutely must get, and for two months the employers have been saying no. You also have to be cognizant of the things that will undermine the ability of our members to be protected in their workspace, and you have to make sure those items are kept off the table. You are in those final moments where key exchanges have to be made. McGuire: The members need to be aware that the employers come in with their whole set of proposals. And there are as many proposals from them as we put on the table. So it is not simply going in and going, "Alright, here are the things we want" and bargaining about what parts of what we want we're going to get. It's how do you fight off the things that you absolutely have to fight off from the producers? How do you trade off when you need to get movement from them and you can't agree to something in their proposal unless you're going to get something back from it? That give and take is all throughout the process. Howard: (Laughing) I agree with David — it was tense. I think any negotiation is tense in the final hours, but we remained focused on our objectives. The committee's dedication and hard work paid off with a good contract that sets the stage for the future. Dunn: The committee members stuck together, right till the end. In this situation, the committee governed themselves and proceeded cautiously and thoughtfully and, ultimately, it culminated in the collective bargaining agreement we were able to achieve.