Representatives of the AFTRA and Screen Actors Guild Presidents’ Forum for One Union met Thursday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles to begin discussions about merging, the labor groups announced.
This latest effort marks the third time the labor groups have tried to combine. Two previous mergers were derailed by a SAG vote.
Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA representatives attending last night’s meeting included SAG National President Ken Howard and AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon and member representatives of both unions. AFTRA National Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth and SAG National Executive Director David White also attended.
The unions said the meeting lasted nearly three hours and discussed the push to pool their resources and form one union. The group also reviewed possible parameters for future discussions and committed to hearing from a wide array of member groups in both unions about their specific needs and concerns. The Forum also discussed the benefits of retaining an independent facilitator to help develop a process and timeline.
The groups have tentative plans to meet again in November. While providing few details about the substance of the talk, the leadership of both guilds made pains to say that progress had been made.
"I’m committed to moving forward and to engaging in a public and transparent process that will foster buy-in across our memberships.”SAG's Howard said in a statement.
“I believe deeply in this exciting and important project, and I look forward to speaking with members from both unions around the country as we work together to create one successor union,” AFTRA's Reardon said,
