Joint Policy Committee and SAG-AFTRA Reach Tentative Deal on Successor Commercial Agreements

NEW YORK, (APRIL 6, 2013) — SAG-AFTRA and the Joint Policy Committee have reached a tentative agreement on terms for successor agreements to the television and radio commercials contracts, subject to approval by the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors later this month.
 
Both parties recognized the positive and productive results of this negotiation and highlighted their joint commitment to grow the work for performers under these contracts while further strengthening the industry.
 
“We’ve made essential gains for SAG-AFTRA members and I couldn’t be more pleased. These contracts provide our members with the solid foundation they need to sustain their careers and families,” said SAG-AFTRA National Co-President and Negotiating Committee National Chair Roberta Reardon. “I am very grateful to our negotiating committee which came together and worked as one to ensure a strong contract for their sisters and brothers who work in the commercials area.”
 
“These negotiations have been a positive and productive continuation of our longtime partnership with commercial performers and their representatives. I am pleased to have achieved these important industry gains in key areas and I want to thank my colleague and JPC Counsel Stacy Marcus and the other members of our negotiating team. I look forward to the approval of the SAG-AFTRA Board and ratification by their membership,” said Joint Policy Committee Lead Negotiator Douglas J. Wood.
 
“We worked together with the JPC to achieve a deal that responds to the needs of SAG-AFTRA members and delivers real improvements for working performers. We look forward to presenting the package to the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors for approval at its meeting later this month,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator David White.
 
Formal negotiations between the 34-member (26 seated members and 8 alternates) SAG-AFTRA Negotiating Committee and the Industry began February 14 and concluded April 6, at 1:49 a.m. EDT, in New York.
 
The JPC was represented by Wood, Marcus, David Weissman with Reed Smith LLP, Linda Bennett with Saatchi & Saatchi, Kim Stevens with Arnold Worldwide, and Kathleen Quinn with the 4A’s.
 
SAG-AFTRA was represented by Reardon, White, Negotiating Committee Vice Chairs Sue-Anne Morrow,  Allen Lulu, Ilyssa Fradin, and David Hartley Margolin, Co-Lead Negotiators Ray Rodriguez and Mathis Dunn, and Senior Advisor John McGuire.
 
The tentative agreements will be submitted to the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors for approval at its April 20-21 meeting. No details of the package will be released in advance of the Board’s review. Upon approval by the board, the package will be sent to the membership for ratification thereafter.
 
About JPC
The JPC is the multi-employer bargaining group that represents the advertising industry in negotiating the SAG-AFTRA commercials contracts.
 
About SAG-AFTRA
SAG-AFTRA represents more than 165,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.
 
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