SAG-AFTRA Board Overwhelmingly Approves New $1 Billion-A-Year Commercials Contract, Urges Membership Ratification

deadline.com:

SAG-AFTRA’s national board voted today to approve a tentative agreement on a new $1 billion-a-year commercials contract and to recommend its ratification to the guild’s members.

The deal, which was approved by 93% of the national board members, was reached Tuesday with the Joint Policy Committee of the advertising industry.

Bargaining got underway February 16 in New York.According the the guild, the deal is valued at an additional $120 million over three years, which is effectively a 5.55% increase in wages and benefit contributions.

The blended contribution rate increase in the 2022 agreement is effectively a 1.01% increase in the contribution rate to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan.“The agreement also establishes flat fee, per-cycle rates across broad swaths of digital and traditional media, institutes new standards for diversity and equity; and builds in enhanced protections for performers depicted nude, partially nude or as engaging in intimate acts,” the guild said, and “monetizes the exponential growth in streaming over the last two years, while ensuring appropriate compensation structures, protecting member earnings and promoting the growth of union-covered commercial work.”“The contracts will result in a significant increase in earnings for our members and in contributions to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator. “They also bring meaningful changes, recognizing the rapid transition to the digital future, protecting our members and keeping our contracts relevant.