SAG-AFTRA voluntarily recognized its communications and marketing employees union after a card count found that a majority were in support of organizing.
After an outside auditor examined union support cards this week, the union, aligned with the national organization of legal service workers, United Auto Workers Local 2320 (NOLSW), was certified. NOLSW already represents organized employees of SAG-AFTRA.
Employees who join the union after the vote include writers, magazine staff, social media workers, audio and video producers, event planners and publicists.
“We greatly appreciate that SAG-AFTRA has been an active partner in this process,” the organizing committee said in a statement. “SAG-AFTRA Communications Employees Union certification is a positive step toward a brighter future for the SAG-AFTRA Communications and Marketing Department, and we look forward to productive negotiations for our first contract.”
SAG-AFTRA moved quickly to gauge support for the union after employees announced their organizing campaign on March 26. In their initial statements, organized employees made clear that they were seeking to improve wages and create barriers around the use of generative AI within the union.
In a statement to Hollywood Reporterthe guild’s organizing committee said it was responding to “the high costs of living in Los Angeles” and emphasized its desire to ensure that SAG-AFTRA members “always get man-made content at the highest level from their guild.”
Now, the two sides will begin the process of negotiating the union’s first contract. In a statement, a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson said the union looks forward to “productive” negotiations with its newest union. “We have a long and successful history of working with represented employees, who make up nearly half of our staff, including employees represented by OPEIU, NOLSW and Teamsters,” the spokesperson added.
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