Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1157135
8 SAG-AFTRA | Summer 2019 | sagaftra.org J A N E A U S T I N A Letter from the Secretary-Treasurer "I am very encouraged to see our union making the commitment to ensure the safety and security of all our members." encouraged to see our union making the commitment to ensure the safety and security of all our members, empowering cast and crew to maintain an environment that respects the boundaries of all performers. Not only will this set the professional standard for all productions, but this represents a real, tangible effort to eliminate the toxic culture that can occur on set and contribute to employee harassment. As professionals, we are entitled to safe and secure sets to work on, and we plan to enforce these new codes across all 25 locals across the country. A second recent development occurred when advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty U.S. Inc. agreed to sign the union's newly negotiated commercials contracts after a 10-month-long strike. We are excited to announce that BBH will produce all its commercials under these contracts, providing union wages and pension and health contributions to performers. I want to thank all our members who helped make our voice heard during the BBH strike. This is a true example of what we can achieve when we work together. The third development represents our To My Union Brothers and Sisters, F or the past four years, it has been my great privilege to serve as your secretary-treasurer. Together, we have worked to ensure that our union is the strongest union it can be. Nevertheless, it's a challenging time to be a SAG-AFTRA member, where earning a living wage as a performer gets more and more difficult. Yet, there have been three recent developments that show me we're moving in the right direction. The first development involves an issue that we have been advocating for: establishing the mandatory use of on-set intimacy coordinators. SAG-AFTRA will be partnering with other organizations to standardize, codify and implement guidelines that will seek to establish new, relevant policies for nudity and simulated sex; define the duties and standards for intimacy coordinators on productions; and specify acceptable training, vetting and qualifications of intimacy coordinators. At a time when sexual harassment and other abuses of power in the workplace are finally coming to light, I am very contract with Netflix, the first agreement our union has signed directly with a global streaming service. While Netflix has produced under the standard SAG-AFTRA television and film agreements, we have never had an official agreement with Netflix before this. We are now officially signatories. Some major substantial gains were achieved in this agreement. However, as in any negotiation, you can't get everything you want. No one walks away from a negotiation completely happy. Nevertheless, we have now set a precedent where we can work with streaming companies, and the process has begun so we can continue to fight for better compensation and protections. While we continue to make gains, there is always more work to be done. In solidarity, Jane Austin