SAG-AFTRA, ABC Reach Agreement on Digital Reporters

This past winter, ABC and SAG-AFTRA member leaders, along with union staff from four cities, rolled up their sleeves to modify the newly negotiated national agreement covering digital reporters at ABC stations in Chicago, San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles.

Under the improved agreement, SAG-AFTRA is expanding its jurisdiction to include programming on the ABC-owned Local network, including a new D-2 channel featuring local community programming and significant improvements to pay for digital reporters. A final agreement was reached by both parties in late January, and ABC members ratified the agreement in early February.

“Our SAG-AFTRA team as a collective did a great job,” said San Francisco digital reporter Dustin Dorsey. “The new deal established strong jurisdiction that will not only benefit the digital reporters, but the whole ABC team as well.”

 SAG-AFTRA and ABC initially reached a landmark new national agreement representing digital reporters in 2018, with Los Angeles as the first region to hire the digital reporters and the other regions to follow suit in early 2019.

This item originally featured in the SAG-AFTRA magazine spring 2020 issue.