SAG-AFTRA Wednesday announced Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel Duncan Crabtree-Ireland as its next national executive director and chief negotiator, effective June 21.
The National Board approved a three-year contract for Duncan Crabtree-Ireland at a special meeting held Wednesday, but did not release the terms.
SAG-AFTRA announced May 14 that David P. White was stepping down from the role, which he has held since 2009.
Crabtree-Ireland, a former prosecutor in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, has served as general counsel of SAG-AFTRA since 2006 and as COO since 2014.
SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris called Crabtree-Ireland “a natural choice, an experienced leader and well respected by members and staff. I am confident that under his leadership, the union will continue building on the achievements and stability he has overseen working alongside David White over the past dozen years.”
As the union’s longtime second-in-command chief operating officer and general counsel, Crabtree-Ireland was a key participant in the merger between SAG and AFTRA in 2012, and has served as the coordinator of SAG-AFTRA’s COVID safety response and return-to-work initiatives.
Crabtree-Ireland is lead negotiator for SAG-AFTRA’s music and other contracts. He’s bilingual in English and Spanish and has been the lead negotiator for SAG-AFTRA’s contract with the Telemundo network for Spanish-language productions. He also oversees the union’s bilingual initiative, and is a co-host of the SAG-AFTRA Podcast En Español.
In 2019, he received the SAG-AFTRA George Heller Memorial Award for extraordinary service to SAG-AFTRA and its members.
He has served as a longtime adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Law School and serves by appointment as a judge pro tem of the Los Angeles Superior Court.