Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/94610
A Letter from the National Executive Director DAVID WHITE "You are no longer alone as you climb this mountain — your professional family stands with you." Dear Member, I recently spoke to a group of new members at an orientation event, where I delivered a simple but important message: "You have joined a worldwide community of professionals, one with a dedicated staff team and member peers who spend every waking moment focused on finding ways to make your path to a successful career easier. You are no longer alone as you climb this mountain — your professional family stands with you. Welcome!" More than ever, I believe in the power and necessity of this statement, and in the vision that sustains it. SAG-AFTRA represents actors, broadcasters and sound recording artists across the country and internationally. On any given day, much of the information and professional entertainment distributed by the companies in our industries and consumed by audiences worldwide comes to the public via members of our union. his represents an incredible scope of creativity and expertise, and we are rightly proud of it. To successfully represent this diverse group, we oversee a wide range of goals and daily activities. First and foremost, we are focused on negotiating strong contracts when at the bargaining table. Over the past several months, your staff and members have been hard at work engaging in the member-directed wages and working conditions process to prepare for the upcoming commercials negotiations. his process is critical and ensures that our negotiating team has a solid overview of the issues our members face each day as they work under this agreement which, in turn, directs our negotiating strategy. During this same period, our Broad- cast staff has also engaged in tough negotiations with a long list of national and local broadcasters around the country. Our broadcast team maintains a daunting schedule, oſten away from their home office as they bargain with employers in numerous cities. I am pleased to report that we have attained impressive achievements in this area recently. As importantly, I can report that we have had several organizing successes in broadcast since my last letter, including an instance where employees in a so- called "right-to-work" state specifically sought out SAG-AFTRA when they reached the decision to take control of their work environment and negotiate an agreement with their employer. On another front, over 300 actors, filmmakers, new media producers and industry leaders gathered this month to celebrate "breakthrough" filmmakers at AFI FEST 2012, at an event co-sponsored by SAG-AFTRA, SAGIndie and the SAG Foundation. Our goal at this event was to celebrate rising stars in the filmmaking world and to build bridges with a new class of artists who are just beginning their journey as producers — and as future employers of our members. By educating them on the ease and desirability of hiring professional union actors when making their films, we help to expand work opportunities for our members. he above represents only a small window into the work that we do to support our professional family across the nation and beyond. To all of you, happy holidays. In unity and looking forward, David P. White 16 SAG-AFTRA | Winter 2013 | SAGAFTRA.org