Posted: Wed., Sep. 24, 2003, 12:49pm PT
After only two days of bargaining, actors and the ad industry have reached a tentative contract agreement on a new three-year deal.
The announcement, which had been rumored, still must be approved by the boards of SAG and AFTRA and then ratified by members. Negotiators did not disclose any details of the pact, adding that those will be unveiled at joint SAG/AFTRA board meeting next Monday, Sept. 29.
*Image provided by EMC* The announcement said chief negotiators had launched informal talks prior to Tuesday's formal start of negotiations. The trio of chief negotiators -- Bob Pisano of SAG, Mathis Dunn Jr. of AFTRA and Ira Shepard of the ad industry's joint policy committee -- released a joint statement:
"By achieving a fair and equitable contract prior to the expiration date, we have served the mutual best interests of SAG and AFTRA members, and the advertising industry," they said. "We have contributed to the momentum of economic recovery for our industry and have helped to insure that everyone keeps working. We commend the members of our committees for their diligence and leadership. The progressive approach to this contract has truly resulted in a win-win situation."
The development comes five weeks before the Oct. 29 expiration of the current three-year contract and three years after SAG and AFTRA staged a bitter six-month strike against advertisers.
It also comes a day after SAG concluded its national election with Melissa Gilbert re-elected to a two-year term as president following a campaign in which the strike emerged as a major issues, with supporters of Gilbert contending the work stoppage lasted too long. Gilbert's opponents have criticized her for failure to aggressively seek a monitoring system for ads.
Union insiders have said SAG and AFTRA negotiators were seeking relatively modest hikes in minimums of about 4% annually, plus a boost in producer contributions to their health and retirement funds -- now at 13%. Both the SAG and AFTRA health plans, jointly operated with the industry, have been forced to institute premiums, tighten eligibility and cut benefits this year.
SAG members generate about 90% of the $700 million annual earnings under the contract. Key points in the 2000 pact included retention of network residuals; setting aside $1 million annually to develop a monitoring system; fees of $1,500 a year for Internet ads; and hikes in the quarterly cable buyout rates to $1,390 in the first year, $1,706 in the second and $2,460 in the third.
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