SAG-AFTRA has recently reached milestones on three important contracts. The first, and most high profile, occurred on Dec. 5, when members ratified the 2023 TV/Theatrical Agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers by a vote of 78.33% to 21.67%, bringing to a close a chapter in the union’s history marked by its longest strike of that contract.
SAG-AFTRA’s transformational agreement with the AMPTP achieves some of the most significant updates to the contract in generations. The deal includes more than $1 billion in new compensation and benefit plan funding, along with outsized gains to the traditional residuals formulas. It offers a new compensation model for performers working in streaming, with a substantial bonus on top of existing residuals structures, plus compensation escalation for principal and background actors. Additionally, the deal establishes detailed informed consent and compensation guardrails for the use of A.I., hair and makeup equity, meaningful protections for the casting process, sexual harassment prevention protections and more.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said, “I’m proud of our SAG-AFTRA membership. They struck for 118 days to grant the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee the necessary leverage to secure over $1 billion in gains, along with the union’s first-ever protections around A.I. technology. Now they’ve locked in the gains by ratifying the contract. SAG-AFTRA members have remained incredibly engaged throughout this process, and I know they’ll continue their advocacy throughout our next negotiation cycle. This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful.”
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said, “SAG-AFTRA members demanded a fundamental change in the way this industry treats them: fairness in compensation for their labor, protection from abusive use of AI technology, strengthened benefit plans, and equitable and respectful treatment for all members, among other things. This new contract delivers on these objectives and makes substantial progress in moving the industry in the right direction.”
TV Animation Agreements
In national voting that ended on March 22, SAG-AFTRA members ratified the 2023 Television Animation Agreement and the 2023 Basic Cable Animation Agreement with the AMPTP. Members approved the new three-year contracts by a vote of 95.52%. The contracts provide strong
protections around the use of artificial intelligence and a pattern-busting 7% wage increase that applies retroactively to July 1, 2023. The agreement becomes effective retroactive to July 1, 2023, and expires June 30, 2026. Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP were delayed due to last year’s TV/Theatrical/ Streaming strike and the previous contract was extended. On Feb. 22, SAG-AFTRA announced the tentative agreement with the AMPTP.
Sound Recordings Code
In April, SAG-AFTRA and leading record labels reached a tentative multiyear agreement on a successor contract to the SAG-AFTRA National Code of Fair Practice for Sound Recordings. Covering the period starting Jan. 1, 2021, and ending Dec. 31, 2026, the agreement
includes Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Disney Music Group. The SAG-AFTRA Executive Committee unanimously approved the tentative agreement and sent it to members for ratification, with a voting deadline of April 30 at 5 p.m. PDT.
The agreement contains artificial intelligence guardrails that take effect immediately upon ratification. The terms “artist,” “singer,” and “royalty artist,” under this agreement only include humans. In this agreement, clear and conspicuous consent, along with minimum compensation requirements and specific details of intended use, are required prior to the release of a sound recording that
uses a digital replication of an artist’s voice. Additional highlights among the contract gains include increased minimums, health and retirement improvements, and an increase in the percentage of streaming revenue to be covered by contributions, among other gains. Visit sagaftra.org to see the results of the Sound Recordings Agreement ratification referendum.
This item originally featured in the SAG-AFTRA spring 2024 magazine issue.