Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/16674
A LETTER TO MEMBERS From President KEN HOWARD Dear Member, individuals. When SAG and AFTRA begin joint negotiations of our TV/Teatrical and Exhibit A Contracts on September 27, we’ll be ready because we have been working together. As president, it has been my privilege to attend Joint Wages and Working Conditions meetings I throughout the country. Everywhere I’ve been — Hollywood, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington-Baltimore — I’ve seen powerful examples of working together. Principal and background actors, stunt performers, dancers, singers, stand-ins, voice artists, performers with and without disabilities, men and women of every age, sexual orientation and ethnicity have all shared their experiences and concerns. Tis has resulted in a deeper understanding of our common needs, and produced valuable proposals to address them. At the Joint W&W Plenary, committee members will determine which proposals should have highest priority. Once the contract proposal package is approved by the Joint National Boards, SAG and AFTRA negotiators will approach the bargaining table with a unified commitment to secure the best terms possible. Tese negotiations won’t be easy; there are serious bread-and-butter issues at stake. We are still recovering from a historic economic downturn and our industry continues to grapple with changes that have put pressure on all of us. But these challenges are all the more reason we must work together — and stand together — to protect actors and strengthen our future. With that in mind, I’m pleased to report that SAG and AFTRA will be working together beyond these negotiations. In the last edition of Screen Actor magazine, I shared an update from the SAG/ AFTRA Relations Task Force laying out some of the compelling benefits of a single union for performers. Te positive response to that article was overwhelming, so I’m confident that SAG members will be encouraged by the following news: AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon and I have formed Te Presidents’ Forum for One Union to serve as a platform for joint discussions aimed at uniting SAG and AFTRA. Although talks will initially be informal, the goal of Te Presidents’ Forum is to establish a common vision for a single performers union and develop a process that can lead to one. I will head SAG’s contingent to the forum, which will also include Secretary-Treasurer Amy Aquino and four others members from the Guild’s SAG/AFTRA Relations Task Force. We will be joined by a similar group from AFTRA, including President Reardon and AFTRA National Treasurer Matt Kimbrough. Just as the joint bargaining agreement between SAG and AFTRA signifies a renewed partnership, Te Presidents’ Forum for One Union reflects a desire to make our partnership permanent and forever stop employers from dividing our work. Tis solidarity bodes well for our upcoming negotiations, and I look forward to giving you further updates as needed. I’d like to touch on one last opportunity for working together. As you read this letter, SAG Board and Branch Council elections are underway throughout the country. (Ballots will arrive late this month in Hollywood and New York. Branch election schedules vary.) Participating in our union democracy is an essential way to make your voice heard. It’s your opportunity to work together with your fellow SAG members to decide the direction we all will take. In unity, t’s hard to find two words that better describe the essence of unionism than “working together.” By working together, we combine our strength to become more powerful than we ever could as Ken Howard SAG.org Summer 2010 - SCREEN ACTOR 5