Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1114369
sagaftra.org | Spring 2019 | SAG-AFTRA 7 D AV I D W H I T E A Letter from the National Executive Director "The future is upon us. In each of our core functions as a union ... we must keep pace with the changes that surround us." brought your concerns, anxieties and fierce determination from around the country into our negotiating room and participated in six weeks of intense debate and active listening with each other and across the table with the industry's negotiators. The result was an entirely new way of thinking about how our members can be compensated fairly for their work in the growing digital ecosystem where commercials are now displayed. Our goals included finding ways to make the contract more simple, flexible and predictable. We achieved these goals. By the time you read this letter, you will have received the full description of these changes along with information on how to vote. I sincerely hope that you have taken a moment to review the handiwork of your colleagues who spent volunteer time away from their families and careers to craft new contract terms that advance your interests as members and accommodate the many changes occurring in the commercials industry. And I hope you voted! I am also pleased with the operational improvements that are continuing to take effect at SAG-AFTRA, which are focused on positioning the union for future success. After a lengthy and successful beta testing period in locals across the country, we are now opening up our residuals direct deposit initiative to all members nationwide. Several thousand members have already signed up and, each day, more members opt into this helpful program that enables them to receive their money efficiently and to easily monitor their payments. Our mobile app and website features are expanding. We are building tools that will enable members to gain direct access to contract digests and rates, register for events using scanning technology, pay dues through the app and much more. Eventually, I believe our app will allow us to receive and process audition and production set data and help us streamline our claims process and enforcement protocol in all work environments in which our members work. The future is upon us. In each of our core functions as a union — negotiations, contract enforcement, organizing and our residuals payment system — we must keep pace with the changes that surround us. As you read this edition of the magazine, you will see countless ways in which elected leaders, member volunteers and your staff are focused on this effort. In solidarity and looking forward, David White Dear Member, I n my recent letters, I have emphasized the revolutionary changes occurring in each of the industries in which our members work, and the way in which these changes will shape our union's evolution. In particular, I have called attention to the radical transformations in the business models of employers in these industries, the regulatory and policy framework in which all of us work, and the entrepreneurial mindset of the next generation of our own membership. These are changes that our union must respond to as we position SAG-AFTRA to thrive in the 21st century. Through the slow but steady process of collective bargaining, we must amend our contracts to keep pace with media innovations. We must always find ways to use technology, process improvements, and professional training to enhance our ability to enforce the myriad terms of our agreements. And we must continue to pioneer new and creative ways to organize new members as well as strengthen the bonds within our existing membership. With all of this in mind, I am thrilled with the outcome of our commercials negotiation, which reflects a clear and coherent response to the rapidly shifting world of advertising. Your colleagues who served on the negotiating committee