LA LOCAL SUPPRESSION

ISSUE: We need to ensure that we have fair elections and the best leadership.

• The L.A. Local contains 82,000 members - half of our union.

• L.A. Board Members passed a constitutional reform by a supermajority simply asking for the same policy currently used by every other Local in our union.

• It is not acceptable for that reform to be denied simply because an increasingly unpopular political party is abusing its national board influence to try to retain some control over the L.A. Local’s Board seats.

WHY IS THIS AN ISSUE:
Right now, our election system continues to be broken.

• In 2014, UFS Leadership instituted a constitutional change allowing high-profile members to run as candidates who had no intention of serving.

• Upon being elected, they immediately resigned and gave their seats to their unelected political party insiders.

• As a result, LA members lacked confidence that the reps they elected would actually serve them.

• Subsequently, The L.A. Local Board passed a motion by a 2⁄3 supermajority to reform the LA Local Constitution to be consistent with all other Locals: Replacements for resigning board members would be chosen and voted in by the Local Board, not by the resigning official/board member.

• However, for the first time in SAG-AFTRA history the National Board overruled the supermajority vote of a Local to make a change to its Constitution.

• The National Board then offered a substitute change that still allows resigning board members to choose their replacement, but it has to be approved by the Local Board. If the Local Board does not accept their choice, then the board member retains their seat. In this way, proxy or partisan board members can hold those seats hostage.

WHAT IS OUR SOLUTION:
We intend to bring our constitutional change to the national board again, and reject the current regime’s oppression of a Local’s attempt to reform its broken election system due to partisan politics.