SAG NV Ntl Bd Report: Retro June 2007

ncreasing work and opportunities in Nevada
A simple goal with many complex variables and the need for action on the part of all of you as SAG membership.

Governmental Process
Over the past few years, Steve Dressler and I have met with and shared discussion with our National Executive Director Doug Allen, key members of the Hollywood Division, our brothers and sisters of the Regional Branch Division as well as other national staff members and leadership, to move forward the agenda of the union, of all small branches, of SAG-only branches (many have AFTRA offices and/or staff support), of background talent (who work outside of Los Angeles) and of our Nevada branch.

Our branch has a more active participation in national committees than any other small branch. Seven Nevada members serve on national level committees. I have been selected by the president, Regional Branch Division or your council to serve on the New Media Task Force, to co-chair New Technologies, to serve on Communication, the Right to Work Task Force (where Hrair Messerlian and Kathy Morand, as staff, have also both been active on our behalf), and other committees as needed.

We need your help on local and regional committees, as individuals and as a branch to build momentum toward a Golden Age for the Nevada Branch and SAG.

An Office for Nevada
The Nevada SAG Council has passed several resolutions in favor of the return of a staffed office here in Nevada. While services are being provided through Los Angeles by our executive, whom we share with San Diego, Hrair is the only executive who is not based in or does not live in any of the branches he represents. Finances limit ‘boots on the ground’ networking, politicking, set visits and membership in-person interaction. While he has done wonders in helping us restore the spirit and identity of the branch, there are limits on what you can do with limited resources, time and a division of your time between multiple missions and branch requirements.

You can provide support through a membership action committee. It is in your hands.

Ask for and support an increase in the background zone
The council is asking for the entire state of Nevada. As with all contracts, the truth is that there is give and take, compromises, and often immovable opposition to any proposal. But we are trying, and the stronger you raise your voice in support, the more likely our chances for success. Contact your council, including me, to see how you can support your union in maximizing union work opportunities for you.

Support Production Incentives
Our executive Hrair Messerlian worked closely with organized labor, management and the Council to push forward legislation in Carson City to offer the first production incentives for the state of Nevada. I joined Hrair at the state capital to testify in favor of SB 321. The Taxation Committee, with the support of the Lieutenant Governor and the Office of Economic Development, passed the bill on to the full Senate with a unanimous “do pass” recommendation. The Senate Finance Committee and Senate have passed it and moved it on to the Assembly side. Thank you to all of you who responded to help push this bill through. It is my hope that it will become law. Time will tell.

Support Local Employment
Support, within the limits of the SAG rules we are bound to as members of a union (for example Rule One which states that you may not work non-union), all Nevada-based production and talent industry-based companies. Show them SAG is on their side. Encourage them to use SAG talent and sign SAG contracts. This includes working only through SAG franchised agents. Every dime a non-union agent (or manager working incorrectly as an agent) earns is a dime that discourages our growing union agent pool from following the rules and supporting our union.

Encourage SAG signatory status
You have the power to nudge employers toward becoming signatory to our contracts. When we had a physical office there were seven local signatories. Today we have none. True, in many cases those companies used primarily out-of-town talent, but then so do films, industrials and commercials coming to town. The opportunity for locals can only grow if we are ready for the work, prepared, and if the work opportunities are there in the first place. A first step is to increase the amount of union work on the plate.

Be prepared and professional on the set
Do the job you are hired to do and do it to the best of your professional training, ability, and desire.

Encourage others to join the Nevada Branch
The reality is that there is strength, financing and political voice in numbers. Qualified professional talent, particularly those in the younger age groups and needed ethnic representation, must be encouraged to join our branch as union actors. If they do not, the non-union talent pool will remain strong enough to discourage the use of union actors. As always, those members of other branches who live in Nevada need to be encouraged to join the branch. Whether their manager or agent handles money in another city, or they still identify with where they used to live, we need their support and membership to strengthen the state in which they live! It is that simple…we need them.

Create a Members Action Committee
As members you can take the lead on all of these actions and more, in the name of strengthening your union, thanking your union for what it has done, giving back to your union and in the drive for more union work in Nevada. Individual actions are strong and require no cooperation, other than with the branch president and our executive. Small groups and action committees can combine talents and drive into a sum greater than the individual parts. I encourage such a committee to be considered by the membership, and come from the membership level up.

Have a pleasant summer, but do not drop the union ball as you escape the heat or enjoy your families. We are all family, after all. Together we stand…you know the rest…

Solidarity,
Art