OUR PLATFORM & VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF SAG-AFTRA
HELP OUR MEMBERS SUCCEED. RESTORE OUR HEALTHCARE. PROTECT OUR PENSION. HEAL THE UNION.
WELCOME TO THE MEMBERSHIP FIRST 2021 PLATFORM
We all know that the past year has been extraordinary. In the same fashion as our Nation works to heal, MembershipFirst under the leadership of Matthew Modine and Joely Fisher will strive to restore the union.
MembershipFirst has two goals: Negotiate better contracts and restore trust in this union.
In order to do that we need you.
Get involved. Understand how you can have a voice. Make your vote count.
Know your Union. Know our plan. Decide your future.
We professionals joined SAG-AFTRA to secure fair wages, safe working conditions, residuals, superb Union Health Care and a pension upon retirement. These benefits are vanishing.
Two years ago, we offered you an analysis of the state of our Union and our proposals to make your working lives better. Unfortunately, under the current union administration, little has changed for the better. In fact, if you see information in this platform that looks familiar, it’s because over the last two years our national leadership has made ineffective attempts to address these burning issues.
The pandemic further exposed the many problems in our Union; financial mismanagement, lack of foresight, absence of transparency.
The primary failures of the current administration were its weakly negotiated contracts resulting in massive loss of residuals and the epic Health Plan catastrophe.
MembershipFirst still believes that our proposals chart a path forward for better wages, benefits, and protections. We ask you to join us. Together, under the leadership of Matthew Modine and Joely Fisher, we can achieve the transformative change we need.
We offer you our 2021 Platform.
Please join us. Get informed.
Know your Union. Know our plan. Decide your future.
PLATFORM NAVIGATOR
SECTION IV: Supporting Our Members
QUALITY OF LIFE
OUR OWN FREE ONLINE CASTING PLATFORM
SELF-TAPING GUIDELINES & PROTECTIONS
FREE LIVE & REMOTE SELF-TAPING
EDUCATION
UNION LITERACY EDUCATION
NATIONAL CONSERVATORY EXPANSION
EMPLOYMENT
ACCESS TO CASTING DIRECTORS
TALENT SHOWCASES FOR AGENTS, MANAGERS, & CASTING
SECTION I. Health Plan
Ask yourself: Did you or someone you love lose their union healthcare?
Our SAG-AFTRA Health Plan situation is dire. The mismanagement by current leadership and the trustees operating in bad faith resulted in over 11,750 participants (plus their dependents) losing coverage.
II. Concerning Contracts
ISSUE: FORWARD-LOOKING CONTRACTS
Our Employers are experiencing record profits...why aren’t we?
We have lost hundreds of millions of dollars because our contracts have not kept pace with exhibition platforms as they have evolved.
ISSUE: IMPROVE OUR TV/THEATRICAL CONTRACTS
Why is there a lot more work...but a lot less money?
There is more production now than ever before...but our contracts are simply not good enough.
The last round of negotiations proved that we need a stronger strategic approach and more aggressive negotiators.
ISSUE: ENFORCE OUR CONTRACTS
Have you ever not gotten paid your per diem – but didn’t report it because you were afraid to “make trouble”...?
SAG-AFTRA is supposed to protect its members when production fails to meet safety, anti-harassment, compensation and other contractual obligations. When it comes to enforcement, too many times members are left to fend for themselves.
ISSUE: FIGHT FOR RESIDUALS
Ask yourself: How are your residuals looking lately...?
Residuals are what keep us solvent when we are not working in production. They pay our bills and can help us qualify for pension and healthcare. The outrageous fact is that as new technologies evolve, our residuals are consistently being traded away in each contract negotiation.
ISSUE: BACKGROUND ACTORS
Why are ALL background actors not equally protected under contracts created solely by the union?
Not all Background Actors are protected under SAG-AFTRA contracts including some contracts created solely by the union. In addition, they have no guaranteed seat on the National Board.
ISSUE: DANCERS
Ask yourself: Are Dancers treated with the respect to their physical demands and artistry that they deserve?
Dancers are losing contract benefits, wages, penalties, rehearsal/set safety consideration.
ISSUE: DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSIVITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY (DEIA)
Ask yourself: Why isn’t there more authentic casting?
As the conversations surrounding the industry’s diversity and inclusion grows, our Union has yet to truly focus its strength on enforcing the Policy of Non-Discrimination and Diversity and expand this section of the contract to support underrepresented members.
III. Internal Union Business
ISSUE: ENDING SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Ask yourself: Do you feel supported in the event of a sexual harassment or assault incident?
Sexual Harassment and Assault are ongoing threats experienced by many in our industry and our union continues to have an inadequate response in our contracts and internal policies.
ISSUE: TWO PENSION PLAN PROBLEM
How could I make $34,998 last year...and not qualify for a pension credit?
Although we have a merged Union, we have two separate pension plans – a SAG Pension Plan and an AFTRA Retirement Fund. Performers’ earnings are divided between the two pension plans. Even though we think we earned enough, we still might not qualify for a pension credit.
ISSUE: OWNING VS. RENTING
Why are we spending over 65 million dollars on offices WE DON’T OWN?
For years, a staggering $6 million per year has been spent on renting our SAG-AFTRA offices in Los Angeles. Many more millions of dollars are squandered annually on office rents around the country. In fact, money has even been wasted renovating offices we do not own. Now, inexplicably, in February of 2021, the current National Board locked us into a new long term multi-million-dollar lease until 2032.
ISSUE: GLARING PENSION INEQUITY
Why can staff retire at 55 with no reduction in pension – but I would take up to a 60% hit?
Our Pension and Retirement Plans secretly favor certain participants more than others.
ISSUE: RESTORE TRANSPARENCY
Ask yourself: When you get FOUR glossy postcards telling you “Vote Yes on this great Contract” - and TWO weeks later you lose your healthcare... Do you question your Union’s Transparency?
In our local and national boardrooms, the current leadership uses the “cloak of confidentiality” to limit your ability to know what is actually going on inside our union. Decisions are being made within the union every day that affect your life and livelihood. This is your union. Information should be shared and you should be aware of decisions the union makes and how they are made.
ISSUE: LOCALS COMMITTEE SUPPRESSION
Ask yourself: During the pandemic, why would the President of the Union forbid every committee in all of the locals from meeting – for over a year?
In March of 2020 when the country was orderd to remain inside, the current administration responded by shifting the operations of the union to work at home. Sadly, many staff had to be let go. Using emergency powers, the president cancelled all committee meetings across the union. As the Nation adapted to the new zoom culture, workers in virtually every profession and walk of life became more efficient and more productive in this new environment.
For absolutely no reason, the President of SAG-AFTRA refused to lift the prohibition from members returning to their vital committee work.
ISSUE: LA LOCAL SUPPRESSION
Ask yourself: Why would the National Board deny the LA Local the ability to reform its constitution and have the same board member vacancy replacement policy as every other Local in our union?
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.
ISSUE: GOVERNING STYLE
Ask yourself: Do you want a leadership style that respects and values the voices of all elected leaders or just those of their political party members?
One of the most damning aspects of the current leadership’s approach to governing our union is that they callously disregard the expressed opinions of tens of thousands of voting members, as put forward by their chosen representatives.
IV. Supporting Our Members
Contracts and enforcement, financial health, our pension and health plans, and our working conditions are all vitally important. But we acknowledge that the vast majority of our members are aspiring to even book enough union work to qualify for pension & healthcare so that they can experience our contracts firsthand.
We are committed to helping our members with their quality of life, education, and employment. And by ensuring we have the best leadership, we can finally harness the power of a merged union for our collective benefit.
Our current projects intend to make sure our members feel the value of their SAG-AFTRA membership every day and help them be more successful and fulfilled in their artistic endeavors.
ISSUE: OUR OWN FREE ONLINE CASTING SERVICE
Ask yourself: Why has our union allowed for-profit companies to charge us hundreds of dollars per year for access to union work? Why don’t we have our own, free online casting platform?
Our members are currently forced to pay, perhaps illegally, for access to work opportunities via for-profit, online casting services, including ActorsAccess, CastingFrontier, and CastingNetworks. Annual memberships for these platforms alone can cost almost $600 per year, almost triple our union’s annual base membership dues.
ISSUE: SELF-TAPING GUIDELINES & PROTECTIONS
How come I now have to be a professional camera crew, editing team, & tech expert to meet self-taping demands from casting?
Recent technological advancements have made it possible for auditions to be recorded and submitted by the performer. Currently there is no industry standard in terms of self-taping instructions, wardrobe & equipment expected, editing skills and software required, or delivery formats & services.
ISSUE: FREE LIVE & REMOTE SELF-TAPING
How much do you wish your Local was still allowed to provide free self-taping to our members?
Pre-pandemic, our LA Conservatory offered free self-taping, in hour blocks, for members two days a week. In 2018, we served over 250 members. In 2019, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation launched an On-Camera Lab in the LA Local also providing free self-taping in half hour blocks. Due to LA Local suppression, we were not allowed to provide support to our members for the past year and half.
ISSUE: UNION LITERACY EDUCATION
Ask yourself: Why doesn’t SAG-AFTRA educate us about our union?
SAG-AFTRA members are not currently required to attend a member orientation.
Orientations are not regularly offered nor are they uniform in content across all our Locals.
Most of our members never learn the basics about our union and how everything works, let alone our contracts, which can lead to confusion, contract violations, enforcement issues, and claims that could have been prevented.
Members can’t assert their rights if they’re not aware of them.
ISSUE: NATIONAL CONSERVATORY EXPANSION
Doesn’t it make sense that SAG-AFTRA should provide all members nationwide with access to the best training in the industry?
SAG-AFTRA does not offer access to high-quality education about the craft, business, and the union to all members in all Locals. Many of our members want and need ongoing training to be competitive in the marketplace. Our union has a duty and opportunity to coordinate continuing education for our members with our existing National and Local Conservatory structure.
ISSUE: ACCESS TO CASTING DIRECTORS
Why doesn’t SAG-AFTRA do more to connect our members with casting directors?
Our TV/Theatrical contract already mandates that casting directors participate in jointly sponsored showcases or spend a comparable amount of time doing general interviews with our members every month but it hasn’t been enforced in many years. If we did, thousands of our members would be meeting working casting directors for free every month. (Section 47(B) of the Theatrical CBA)
ISSUE: TALENT SHOWCASES FOR AGENTS, MANAGERS, AND CASTING
Ask yourself: Can’t my union help me land representation and get me in front of casting and production companies?
Many of our members are seeking representation and opportunities to perform in front of industry professionals like writers, directors, producers, and casting directors.
Know your Union. Know our plan. Decide your future.
MembershipFirst is pleased to present our approach to the issues outlined above, so that voters in the 2021 SAG-AFTRA Election understand who we are, our vision and how we will fight for your rights.
Due to strategic sensitivities and confidentiality obligations, there are many other issues and points of interest that we have not included in this online platform at this time. We’ll continue to update you.
MembershipFirst cares about your opinions and idea. We encourage you to give us feedback on issues that matter to you. Email us at: union@membershipfirst.com.
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