AFTRA Settles, All Eyes Turn to SAG

Posted by Robin Ruinsky (robin@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 28, 2008

AFTRA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have reached an agreement with the producers of primetime television shows. While that might make some people breath easier, the Screen Actors Guild has to go to the bargaining table and reach an agreement if an actors strike is to be averted.

After nine days of negotiations AFTRA, which represents 70,000 performers and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers reached a tentative three-year agreement early Wednesday. Tentative is a key word since the agreement still has to be approved by the national board and ratified by the membership.

The internet was a sticking point in negotiations, specifically the use of film clips without the approval of the actors involved. AFTRA said its deal establishes higher fees for downloaded content and residual payments for ad-supported streams and clips. It also sets a deadline for developing a system for actors to consent to the online use of clips containing their images or voice.

The fight over use of clips is a thorny one and hard to resolve. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers feel it’s a burden to attempt to get consent from actors for every clip. The details of how it will be handled are still being negotiated.

Now that AFTRA has settled, the pressure is on SAG to follow suit and come to an agreement. The AFTRA deal only covers a handful of programs. It’s the SAG negotiations that everyone has their eye on. Usually the two unions negotiate together but for the first time in 27 years the two unions negotiated separately after they had a dispute over recruitment of members.

The President of AFTRA, Roberta Reardon, declared the deal “a victory for actors” and expressed hopes that the larger Screen Actors Guild, which represents 120,000 actors, would “use it as a template”.

She declared “Actors want to work” which is undoubtedly true. But it now depends on what kind of contract the leadership of SAG obtains and whether the membership approves it.

What will it take to propel the union to call a strike among a membership still weary from the 100 day Writers Guild walkout? The Writers Guild strike ended in February, but it may have left SAG members less than willing to walk off the job. The members of SAG supported the strike and marched with the writers on their picket lines. Work was halted on numerous television shows leaving actors out in the cold along with the writers.

The question is whether the membership of SAG wants to go through that again. One strike may have been enough for one year.

Read more articles by Robin Ruinsky