Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475555
12 SAG-AFTRA | Summer 2022 | sagaftra.org A Letter from the National Executive Director Dear Members, A strong and strategic union is essential to the future. Among other things, that means looking ahead and anticipating changes in our industries, and taking action to make sure SAG-AFTRA contracts are adapting and evolving to protect our members, regardless of those industry dynamics. One great example of this is our new Influencer Agreement, which kicked off last year to ensure that our members who are doing influencer work in this developing area can do that work under a union contract — with all the protections and access to benefits that involves. This new contract has kicked off with a bang, with member earnings under the contract in its first few quarters exceeding $6 million. This success is reverberating through our industries more broadly. As a top agent from one of the Big 3 talent agencies said to us, "The Influencer Agreement and the Influencer Waiver changed the way our clients, both performers and brands, talk about SAG-AFTRA. They felt the union really heard them and addressed their needs, and it's had a huge impact." Unions have never had a more important role to play in our country than they do today — and the American people are recognizing it in ways we haven't seen in many decades. SAG-AFTRA has doubled down on our organizing efforts, including such examples as our campaigns at PBS NewsHour and WCCO in Minnesota, our partnership with the Hip-Hop Alliance, our contract campaigns at American Public Media and Chicago Public Media, our focus on areas of new technology including AI, and our continued commitment to organizing Spanish-language media, among others. The theme of the 2022 AFL-CIO Convention was "Building the Movement to Meet the Moment" — acknowledging this special moment of widespread engagement with the mission of all unions, including SAG-AFTRA — to protect and advance working people. It also marked the first time a woman was elected president of the AFL-CIO amidst the most diverse leadership group ever, reflecting the full spectrum of the American Scene, as we strive to bring our industries to do as well. June was Pride Month, and for me it's a special time to reflect on the many fights for civil rights and equality our diverse communities have fought, and will continue to fight. As a dad of five adopted African American children, our fight for the federal CROWN Act is particularly meaningful. And, as the only openly gay national executive director of an American entertainment union, I know from personal experience that representation matters. Many SAG-AFTRA staffers work outside the limelight but do incredibly important work for our members, and do it incredibly well. One marvelous example of this is our own Chief Financial Officer Arianna Ozzanto. A longtime staffer, Ari oversees all financial matters as well as the member care Contact Center. And I'm thrilled to report that she was honored this year by the Los Angeles Times B2B section as a finalist for CFO of the year. I'm so proud of Ari for this achievement, and appreciative of her and the hundreds of other staff people who work every day to make our members' lives better. In closing, I'd like to take a moment to honor the memory of former AFTRA National President Shelby Scott. A trailblazing journalist, she devoted much of her career to serving her fellow SAG-AFTRA members. I got to know her through her service as a health and retirement trustee, and I admired and respected her deeply. Her incisive wit and wry smile are deeply missed. Stronger together, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland D U N C A N C R A B T R E E - I R E L A N D "Unions have never had a more important role to play in our country than they do today."