SAG-AFTRA’s Recently Approved 2019 Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast Contract Contains Anti-Harassment Language

LOS ANGELES — SAG-AFTRA’s recently approved 2019 Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast Contract contains anti-harassment language based on the union’s Code of Conduct and Guideline No.1. The new contract also contains language prohibiting the use of performers’ voices and images to create a digitally generated performance.

The Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast Contract covers public relations, sales promotion and training films made for initial use to the public, schools, conventions, seminars, museums, in retail stores and for internet use. It also covers audio-only content, such as telephone messages and audio used in consumer products.

The new, three-year agreement is effective Nov. 1, 2019 – Oct. 21, 2022. Highlights include:

• A 3% increase on all compensation effective Dec. 1, 2019, plus an additional 3% increase on all compensation effective May 1, 2021.
• Increase in the H&R contribution rates of .75 percent, for a total of 17.25%.
• Harassment-prevention language that explicitly prohibits auditions in hotel rooms. 
• Language that prohibits the use of performers’ voices and images to create a digitally generated performance.

“I am thrilled that we have negotiated an agreement with the Producers Group and I would like to thank our chief negotiator Ray Rodriguez, Executive Director, Commercials and Corporate, Educational and Non-Broadcast Lori Hunt, staff as well as David Hartley-Margolin, the national chair of the member negotiating committee for their leadership. This new contract adopted the sexual harassment language we created, and recognizes that on-set safety is paramount for our members. This agreement also ensures that our members today and in the future are protected from digitally generated performances underpinning the multitude of ways that work has transformed in this industry,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris.

“I would like to thank our member negotiating committee for their valuable insight. I would also like to commend our industry bargaining partners for working with us to negotiate a deal that is fair for our members and their employers as well as reflective of our fast-paced industry,” said Chief Contracts Officer and Lead Negotiator Ray Rodriguez.

“I am very pleased with the outcome of this round of talks. Our committee and stakeholders were not only focused on advancing the interests of the membership and our bargaining partners, but also examining the structure of the contract itself and its applicability in the current production environment. I look forward to working together over the term of this deal to find better ways to meet the needs of both SAG-AFTRA members and the corporate and educational clientele with whom we collaborate,” said David Hartley-Margolin, the national chair of the member negotiating committee.

“On behalf of our negotiating team, we are very pleased to have been able to come to an equitable agreement that reflects the changes that are occurring in our rapidly evolving business,” said Producers Group Ltd. Chief Negotiator Lee Gluckman.

In January, SAG-AFTRA’s national board unanimously approved the tentative 2019 Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast Contract, which is the successor contract to the 2015-2018 agreement that had been extended for 18 months.

About SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 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.