AFTRA National Board Approves Joint Bargaining With SAG

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA | Saturday February 27, 2010 @ 5:34pm PST

AFTRA_LOGO_SLOGOLOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK (Feb. 27, 2010) --- The National Board of Directors of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), a national union of more than more 70,000 performers, journalists, broadcasters, recording artists and other talent working in the entertainment and news media, met today by videoconference plenary in Los Angeles and New York.

The AFTRA National Board unanimously voted to approve a recommendation by a subcommittee of the AFTRA Strategy Cabinet to formally engage in joint bargaining under Phase One terms with Screen Actors Guild (SAG) for the AFTRA Primetime Television Contract (Exhibit A of the Network Television Code) and the SAG Television and Theatrical Agreement and under the existing AFL-CIO-facilitated No Raiding/Non-Disparagement Agreement between the two unions. No wages and working conditions meetings or negotiations are scheduled at this time.

The approved motion reads:

“The AFTRA National Board approves conducting the preparation for, negotiation and administration of the 2011 AFTRA Exhibit A Agreement and SAG TV/Theatrical Agreement jointly with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) under the terms of the Phase One Agreement, as Phase One has been applied in the past, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the AFL-CIO-facilitated Agreement for Negotiation of Commercials Contracts Under the Phase One Agreement (“The Commercials Agreement”). Staff is directed to prepare and execute an agreement that is identical to the Commercials Agreement to cover negotiations of the Exhibit A Agreement and SAG TV/Theatrical Agreement and forward same to

... Read More »

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SAG National Board Votes To "Seek Engagement" With AFTRA To Bargain Jointly On Next TV/Theatrical Contract

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Labor Relations | Sunday January 31, 2010 @ 9:56pm PST

The SAG National Board of Directors met via videoconference in Los Angeles and New York:

SAGLos Angeles, (January 31, 2010) - Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors voted today to seek engagement with AFTRA in a joint bargaining agreement for negotiation of the Television/Theatrical Contract. Approved 82 to 18 percent, the resolution states:

“It was moved and seconded that in light of SAG's historically productive negotiating partnership with AFTRA, the SAG National Board of Directors directs President Ken Howard and National Executive Director David White to seek engagement with AFTRA in a joint bargaining agreement for negotiation of the Television/Theatrical Contract, under the terms of Phase One, modeled on the agreement used successfully in the 2009 Commercials Contract negotiations. President Howard and NED White shall bring a recommendation to the National Board at the earliest opportunity.”

Screen Actors Guild President Ken Howard said, “I am very pleased with the vote and thank the Board for their leadership and foresight on this important issue. I so appreciate the Board’s cooperative spirit in this discussion and throughout the day, and feel confident that our Guild is moving in the right direction.”

In other actions, the National Board voted unanimously to create a National Performance Capture Committee to address the unique concerns and experiences of members who render performances that are recorded using “performance capture” technology across all media, and to advise the Guild on all matters pertaining to work in this rapidly growing area.

The board also approved

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SAG & AFTRA Reach Tentative Pact With Some Video Game Companies

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Guilds | Friday October 2, 2009 @ 3:50pm PST

Los Angeles (October 2, 2009) — Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) today announced they have reached tentative agreements with video game companies on new contracts. The agreements -- which become effective upon ratification and remain in full force until March 30, 2011 – achieve parity between the AFTRA and Screen Actors Guild contracts and include contemporaneous expiration dates of March 30, 2011.

In addition, the contracts deliver a 3 percent wage increase upon ratification for SAG, thereby bringing SAG’s wages into parity with AFTRA’s, and another 2.5 percent increase on April 1, 2010, for both unions. Both pacts contain increases in benefit contributions and a liquidated damages provision to incentivize employers to give notice of vocally stressful work.

The contracts also establish a new category of performance for “atmospheric voices” that is designed to increase work opportunities for union performers  by allowing Producers the flexibility to record multiple minor character voices in a single session. The agreements also establish a cap of $125,000 on contributions to the AFTRA Health and Retirement and SAG Pension and Health funds. The cap will only apply to performers who are paid more than $125,000 by a single producer in a single year for work done on the same game franchise.

The tentative agreements must be approved by Screen Actors Guild’s National Board of Directors and the AFTRA Administrative Commitee, both of which will meet in the coming weeks.

Highlights of these agreements include:

  • The achievement of parity between the

... Read More »

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PROTEST AT MPTF FUNDRAISER TONIGHT: ..."Evening Before Emmys" Or ..."Evening Before Evictions"?

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Guilds | Saturday September 19, 2009 @ 9:35pm PST

mptf rally sept3

Tonight is the 3rd annual “Evening Before Emmys" fundraiser for the Motion Picture & Television Fund. But outside the event in Century City, the grassroots organization "Saving The Lives Of Our Own" held a candlelight vigil to protest the "Evening Before Eviction" -- its moniker for the MPTF closures of the acute- and long-term care facilities. Tonight's protest was expected to include members of SAG, Teamsters Local 399 (one of the leaders, Steve Dayan, is being interviewed photo), AFTRA, the WGA, DGA, IATSE and others. "Saving The Lives Of Our Own" is a grass-roots coalition of entertainment industry workers, long-term care residents, their families, and community members. In weeks leading up to the event, the protest group wrote to the partygoers and said:

We respectfully ask that you please reconsider your decision to participate in the MPTF's September 19 'Evening Before Emmy' event.

Unfortunately, the money raised at this event will NOT go towards saving this historic and vital long-term care facility, which these residents depend on now and future generations of Hollywood's rank-and-file workers will depend on in the future. Though fundraising offers have been made, the Fund’s administrators have responded by saying that no amount of money would change their closure decision.

The MPTF’s sacred promise, 'We Take Care of Our Own,' its noble mission since its founding by Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford in 1928, has been broken.

The appeal was directed to “Evening ... Read More »

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AFTRA Nat'l Convention Reports Online

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA | Saturday August 15, 2009 @ 5:57pm PST

AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon and National Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth discussed AFTRA's achievements and future in their reports to more than 250 delegates at the 2009 National Convention in Chicago on August 8. Those reports are now available on AFTRA's Web site for viewing at the following links.
For Reardon's report. For Hedgpeth's report.

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SAG vs AFTRA In Television: Show By Show

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Wednesday August 12, 2009 @ 8:37am PST

ABC
Better Off Ted, AFTRA
Brothers & Sisters, SAG
Castle, SAG
Cougar Town (NEW), AFTRA
Desperate Housewives, SAG
Eastwick (NEW), SAG
Flash Forward (NEW), AFTRA
The Forgotten (NEW), AFTRA
Grey's Anatomy, SAG
Hank (NEW), AFTRA
The Middle (NEW), SAG
Modern Family (NEW), AFTRA
Private Practice, SAG
Scrubs, SAG
Ugly Betty, SAG

CBS
Accidentally on Purpose (NEW), AFTRA
The Big Bang Theory, SAG
Cold Case, SAG
Criminal Minds, SAG
CSI, SAG
CSI: Miami, SAG
CSI: NY, SAG
Gary Unmarried, AFTRA
Ghost Whisperer, SAG
The Good Wife (NEW), AFTRA
How I Met Your Mother, SAG
Medium, SAG
The Mentalist, SAG
NCIS, SAG
NCIS: Los Angeles, (NEW) SAG
New Adventures of Old Christine, SAG
Numb3rs, SAG
Three Rivers, (NEW) AFTRA
Two and a Half Men, (NEW) SAG

NBC
30 Rock, SAG
Chuck, SAG
Community, (NEW) AFTRA
Day One, (NEW) AFTRA
Heroes, SAG
Law & Order, SAG
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, SAG
Mercy, (NEW) AFTRA
The Office, SAG
Parenthood, (NEW) AFTRA
Parks and Recreation, AFTRA
Southland, SAG
Trauma, (NEW)< AFTRA

FOX
Bones, SAG
Brothers (NEW), AFTRA
Dollhouse, SAG
Fringe, SAG
Glee (NEW), SAG
House, SAG
Human Target (NEW), AFTRA
Lie to Me, SAG
Past Life (NEW), AFTRA
'Til Death, AFTRA

CW
90210, AFTRA
The Beautiful Life (NEW), AFTRA
Gossip Girl, SAG
Melrose Place (NEW), AFTRA
One Tree Hill, SAG
Smallville, SAG
Supernatural, SAG
The Vampire Diaries (NEW), AFTRA

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SAG vs AFTRA Scripted Primetime TV Series

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Sunday August 9, 2009 @ 5:34pm PST

I had repeatedly asked both unions to give me tallies on how many primetime network scripted shows this next 2009/2010 TV season will be under SAG's or AFTRA's administration, and especially the breakdown of new shows since so much inaccurate information was being tossed around during the contract vote. Finally SAG replied. AFTRA has yet to answer despite PR assurances it would.

2009/2010 Scripted Prime Time Schedule (Screen Actors Guild figures)
SAG 69%
AFTRA 31%

2009/2010 Returning Series
SAG 44
AFTRA 5

2009/2010 Pilot Pickups
SAG 5
AFTRA 25

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What AFTRA Isn't Doing For Members...

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA | Sunday August 9, 2009 @ 2:55pm PST

UPDATES AFTRA Re-Elects Prez Readon And OKs $300 Initiation Fee Hike

... It's not supporting the effort to stop the closure of the long term and intensive care facilities at the Motion Picture And Television Fund. Today's official AFTRA statement declared, "Convention delegates also expressed deep concern over the closure of the Motion Picture Television Fund's long-term care and ICU facilities in Woodland Hills, Calif., and referred a resolution stating that concern to the AFTRA HRIC committee to investigate the circumstances of the closure." But there is no timetable attached to that resolution. And AFTRA is under no obligation to expedite the issue. But that's just part of the story. I'm told by insiders that in Chicago, the AFTRA leaders claimed they don't know all of the facts and can't really rely on SAG's national position joining the protest. Also, AFTRA ignored the tens of thousands of AFTRA-SAG dual cardholders who rely on the home. Amazingly, the AFTRA leaders expressed the opinion that the home didn't really impact them since they have never been invited to have a seat at the board. They even questioned if there have been any AFTRA members who have ever lived at the facility. One board member stood up in front of the meeting and stated that the MPF didn't add the "T" until "15 ... Read More »

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AFTRA Re-Elects Prez Roberta Readon And OKs $300 Initiation Fee Hike For Organizing

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA | Sunday August 9, 2009 @ 2:25pm PST

UPDATE: What AFTRA Isn't Doing For Members...

CHICAGO (August 9, 2009) — The American Federation of Television and
Radio Artists concluded its biennial National Convention Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago last night with a wide range of actions including the re-election of Roberta Reardon as National President and approval of an increase in the initiation fee to join AFTRA.

More than 240 professional performers, broadcasters, and sound recording artists — serving as Convention delegates elected by AFTRA members from 32 Locals and Chapters throughout the country — assembled on August 6 for the three-day 62nd National Convention, the highest governing body of AFTRA.

New York actor Roberta Reardon — who was elected to her first term as National President by Convention delegates in 2007—was re-elected by unanimous acclamation to a second two-year term as National President.

"I am extremely honored to serve once again as your National President," Reardon told the delegates. "Together, we're going to forge a great 21st century digital union. This past week, we planned the future, not just for the people in this room but for the AFTRA members around the country, and I am so proud."

National First Vice President Bob Edwards, satellite radio host from Washington, D.C., was re-elected to his post. Also re-elected was Second National Vice President Los Angeles actor Ron Morgan.

National Vice Presidents re-elected to office were San Francisco actor Denny Delk, New

... Read More »

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SAG/AFTRA/Equity Award Diversity

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Sunday June 7, 2009 @ 2:11pm PST

Los Angeles (June 7, 2009) -- The Equal Employment Opportunities Committees of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and the Ethnic Employment Opportunities Committee of Screen Actors Guild (SAG) are delighted to announce the 7th annual Ivy Bethune Tri-Union Diversity Awards, honoring actor and activist George Takei; actor, writer and teacher Dr. Victoria Ann Lewis; dancer Cheryl Burke; and stand-up comedian/storyteller Charlie Hill. The event will be held on June 29, 2009 at 7 p.m. in East West Players’ David Henry Hwang Theatre (120 N Judge John Aiso Street in Downtown Los Angeles). Attendance is free for members of the three unions.

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Election Results Signal Big Change For AFTRA's Los Angeles & National Boards

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Wednesday June 3, 2009 @ 9:38pm PST

I told you that some anti-merger SAG members were running in the AFTRA board elections. Well, turned out they won. This, despite the fact that certain AFTRA members tried to sink their candidacies with smear emails. I suppose turnabout is fair play. (During the recent SAG elections, a group of pro-AFTRA merger members got themselves elected to the SAG Board.) Now Anne-Marie Johnson (SAG’s 1st vice president, chairman of the SAG Hollywood Board, and one of Membership First's leaders), and Alan Ruck (an MF stalwart) won places on AFTRA's National Board. David Jolliffe (another MF stalwart) won a place on AFTRA's Los Angeles Local Board. It's all perfectly legal: they are dual card-holders and therefore eligible to be AFTRA candidates because they qualified for the ballot by nominating petition. Here are the election results:

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 3, 2009) -- The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced today election results for the AFTRA Los Angeles Local.

Actor Ron Morgan was re-elected President of AFTRA Los Angeles and will begin his new two-year term as Local President on July 1; he ran unopposed in his bid for reelection. Mr. Morgan was also elected to the AFTRA National Board of Directors for a four-year term; he also serves as a National Vice President of the union.

Also uncontested in their reelection for two-year terms as officers for AFTRA Los Angeles were First Vice President Susan Boyd Joyce, a singer; actor Gabrielle Carteris, Second Vice President; Third Vice President

... Read More »

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Strange Bedfellows?

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Directors, Guilds | Monday June 1, 2009 @ 9:05pm PST

Interesting that AFTRA is a co-sponsor of the Producers Guild Of America's "Produced By" Conference this weekend.

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AFTRA, SAG Members Ratify Ad Contract

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Thursday May 21, 2009 @ 5:49pm PST

Los Angeles (May 21, 2009)—In nationwide voting completed today, members of the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have overwhelmingly approved new three-year successor agreements to the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Television Commercials Contract and the 2006 AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts. The memberships of AFTRA and SAG voted 93.84% percent in favor of the new agreements. Approximately 132,000 members of the unions received ballots, of which 28% percent returned them.

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"MergePlease" Movement Has Logo

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Tuesday May 5, 2009 @ 2:58pm PST

There's a new "MergePlease" movement with this as its slogan. There's a website, a T-shirt, and postcards circulating with the selling slogan, "Wear it like your health insurance depends on it" along with a disclaimer that neither SAG nor AFTRA are involved. The website claims it was set up by "the SAG-AFTRA Merger group on FaceBook".

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SAG Mailing Commercials Contract Ballot

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Friday May 1, 2009 @ 12:07pm PST

SAG has sent out this announcement about the joint Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA Commercials Contracts ballot and member informational meetings notice"

Dear Member:

As you know, your Joint SAG/AFTRA National Board of Directors and Joint SAG/AFTRA Commercials Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve and recommend your YES vote, on the terms of new three-year successor agreements to the 2006 SAG Television Commercials Contract and the 2006 AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts.

Your 2009-2012 Screen Actors Guild Television Commercials Contracts and AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts Referendum Summary and Ballot is on its way to you in the mail today.

Look for your summary and ballot to arrive in your mailbox in the next few days, read all of the materials carefully, vote YES to approve your new commercials contracts, and mail your ballot before the deadline. Your ballot must be received via U.S. Mail at the Everett, WA, Post Office Box by 5:00 P.M. (PDT) Thursday, May 21, 2009.

Please remember:

· Ballots must be mailed in the postage-paid return envelope included with the ballot materials.

· Ballots cannot be mailed or delivered to SAG or AFTRA offices. Ballots that are not received at the Everett, WA, Post Office Box by 5:00 p.m. (PDT) on Thursday, May 21, will not be counted.

· Please be sure to read the voting instructions carefully before casting your vote.

Click here to view the referendum materials online and learn more about the new agreements.

To help you learn more about the

... Read More »

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SURPRISE! Some SAG Anti-Merger Members Running For AFTRA Board

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Thursday April 16, 2009 @ 10:09pm PST

I suppose turnabout is fair play. During the recent SAG elections, a group of pro-AFTRA merger members got themselves elected to the SAG Board. Now some anti-AFTRA merger members of SAG are trying to get on the AFTRA board. Anne-Marie Johnson (one of Membership First's leaders and the VP of SAG's Hollywood Division), and Alan Ruck (an MF stalwart), and David Jolliffe (another MF stalwart), and Dave Clennon (an outspoken critic of the louisy terms of the AFTRA contract along with the other two) are all running for the 11 open seats representing Los Angeles on AFTRA's National Board. It's all perfectly legal: they are dual card-holders and therefore eligible to be AFTRA National Board candidates because they qualified for the ballot by nominating petition. (If I missed some names, give me a shout-out...)

Here is the AFTRA announcement tonight:

Los Angeles, California (April 16, 2009)—The Los Angeles Local of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists—the people who entertain and inform America — announced the complete list of candidates for its 2009 election of Los Angeles Officers and Board members, Los Angeles-based National Board members, and delegates to the 2009 AFTRA National Convention.

All seven incumbent AFTRA Los Angeles Officers were named candidates for re-election by the AFTRA Los Angeles Nominating Committee and will run unopposed for additional two-year terms. They include Los Angeles President Ron Morgan; First Vice President Susan Boyd Joyce; Second Vice President Gabrielle Carteris; Third Vice President Bobbie Bates; Fourth

... Read More »

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SAG/AFTRA Reach New Tentative Ad Pact

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Wednesday April 1, 2009 @ 8:23am PST

NEW YORK (APRIL 1, 2009)—Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced today that the AFTRA/SAG Joint Negotiating Committee has reached a unanimous tentative agreement with the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) on terms for successor agreements to the AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts and the SAG Television Commercials Contract, subject to approval by the SAG/AFTRA Joint National Board.

The new three-year agreement contains a more than $36 million increase in wage rates and other payments for all categories of performers in the first year of the contracts, approximately $21 million in increased contributions to the SAG Pension and Health Plan and the AFTRA Health and Retirement Fund, establishment of a payment structure for work made for the Internet and other New Media platforms, important new monitoring provisions, and improvements for choreographers, extras, and Spanish language performers.

The new contracts also contain an agreement in principle outlining terms for a pilot study for the purpose of testing the Gross Rating Points (GRP) model of restructuring compensation to performers as proposed by Booz & Co. The two-year study is scheduled to commence on April 15 and will be conducted by a jointly retained consultant engaged by the Unions and the Industry. The results and possible adoption of the study’s findings will be subject to negotiation by the parties not later than January 3, 2012.

The unions successfully protected the critical “Class A” payment

... Read More »

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AFTRA Board: Retirement Fund -$23.4%, Pension Changes, SAG Praised (Even Rosenberg), Ad Contract Talks Continue March 31, "You Don't Have To Look Outside Of AFTRA For Your Next Job"

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA | Sunday March 22, 2009 @ 5:14pm PST

There was a flurry of bad and good news from AFTRA's National Board meeting by videoconference between Los Angeles and New York this weekend:

-- "Shelby Scott, who serves as Union Chair of the AFTRA Health & Retirement Trustees, reported that while the major global equity markets, including here in the U.S., were down approximately 40% in 2008, the AFTRA Retirement Fund limited its losses to about 23.4%."

-- "Despite this relatively positive performance, in order to prepare the Fund to withstand the uncertain economy, the Trustees have made two changes to the AFTRA Retirement Plan. First, as of May 1, 2009, the way pension benefits are calculated will change from a formula based solely on an individual's earnings to one based on the actual contribution made by employers on behalf of an individual to the H&R Funds, by taking into account both the individual's earnings as well
as the H&R percentage rate in the contracts under which the individual works.

"Second, as of December 1, 2009, the minimum annual earnings threshold needed to earn a pension credit for vesting, accrual, and participation purposes will increase to $15,000. The previous minimum was $7,500 a year. Even with this change, the new threshold for the AFTRA Plan is still lower than the threshold for most other similar industry plans. Scott observed, "The Trustees, both Union and Management, believe it is necessary to adjust benefits now to ensure the Retirement Fund protects participants in the future and is positioned to weather the immediate crisis in the American economy. But more important, this change in structure is designed to prepare for the shifts we believe are coming in how our members earn income under their contracts, and to factor in that over the past several years, our members have invested a lot of bargaining capital at the negotiating table to raise contribution rates in our contracts. "

-- "Scott reported that there are no changes to the Health Plan." [As previously announced, Health Plan premiums will increase by 5% on April 1, 2009.]

--  "Mathis L. Dunn, Jr., Assistant National Executive Director for Commercials, Non-Broadcast/Industrials, and Interactive Media, and Chief Negotiator for the AFTRA Commercial Contracts, provided the National Board with an update on the progress of joint commercials contracts negotiations which began on February 23 in New York. The negotiations are scheduled to continue through March 31, 2009, the date the contracts are set to expire. Bargaining is progressing under a press blackout."

-- "In her address to the AFTRA National Board, President Roberta Reardon observed, 'In a season of bad news, where even the entertainment and media industries are feeling the devastating impact of falling stock prices, wage compression, and high unemployment, AFTRA members have much reason for hope. From the Employee Free Choice Act to the Performance Rights Act, AFTRA members are inspired by a new administration in Washington. Organizing is our priority — particularly in a down economy — and the time is now. The diversity of work opportunities under AFTRA contracts is our strength: when one job area declines, another grows. Whether it's scripted dramatic programming, videogames, audiobooks, broadcast news, a studio album, or a basic cable program, you don't have to look outside of AFTRA for your next job.' "

--  "President Reardon applauded AFL-CIO President John Sweeney for his continued leadership and support, and she thanked Screen Actors Guild (SAG) President Alan Rosenberg, SAG Interim National Executive Director David White, and the SAG committee members who have been working with AFTRA members on the joint AFTRA and SAG commercials contracts negotiations."

-- "President Reardon also congratulated the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) on the union's recent ratification of a successor Hollywood Basic Agreement."

-- "The AFTRA National Board will next meet on August 4 and 5 before the AFTRA National Convention in Chicago."

The full text from the board, plus AFTRA President Roberta Reardon's letter to members about the pension changes, and a FAQ about it, are continued on the next page. Read More »

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Your (Un)Trustworthy Trades: THR Gets It Wrong About AFTRA vs SAG TV Pilots

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Cable | Thursday March 5, 2009 @ 10:51am PST

Two weeks ago, while the SAG-AMPTP contract talks were still going on, The Hollywood Reporter came out with a bombshell of a story. It claimed "AFTRA is dominating the field this year with at least 50 of the 70-plus broadcast pilots to be produced coming under its jurisdiction". I have since found out this is bullshit. Not even AFTRA knows where THR got those figures. In fact, AFTRA not only never confirmed those numbers with the union, it can't confirm those figures. And the journalist knew this before the story came out. Nor would the reporter tell AFTRA who had provided those figures.

So I decided to discover the truth.

As background first, remember that there are many reasons to explain why a producer would elect to produce a program under an AFTRA contract, such as longstanding relationships and shifting technology. Even AFTRA readily admits that employers aren’t electing to produce under them just because SAG doesn’t have a new pact. As to scripted network pilots intended for 2009/2010 airing as potential series, AFTRA has 21 confirmed so far. SAG has signed 10% (6 of 17) so far. But SAG says there are 46 network primetime pilots announced to date that are not yet SAG's or AFTRA's.

The only AFTRA primetime broadcast scripted shows currently airing or about to air (some were held over from 2007 and 2008 for 2009 because of the writer's strike) are: Rules of Engagement (on CBS), Til Death (Fox), The Reaper (CW), Gary Unmarried (CBS), 90210 (CW), Better Off Ted (the 20th ... Read More »

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SAG/AFTRA Joint Statement On Ads Pact

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Guilds | Saturday February 7, 2009 @ 4:32pm PST

On Saturday, February 7, the Joint National Board of Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists met in videoconference plenary in Los Angeles and New York and approved by an overwhelming majority a package of proposals for the changes to the AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts and SAG Television Commercials Contract. The SAG and AFTRA Commercials Contracts will be bargained under the terms of the Phase One Agreement that applies to the Commercials Contracts negotiations only. Negotiations are scheduled to commence on February 23 in New York.

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