The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) has reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year primetime television contract with the trade association representing the largest production companies, AFTRA President Roberta Reardon announced on Wednesday.
"This is another groundbreaking agreement for AFTRA," Reardon said.
AFTRA represents some 70,000 members and is the nation's second-largest performers' union.
The announcement came as the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) prepared to resume talks later Wednesday with the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG), which represents around 120,000 members.
"In addition to achieving meaningful gains in compensation and working conditions for performers, it also establishes AFTRA jurisdiction in the dynamic area of new media and it preserves performers' consent for use of excerpts of traditional TV shows in New Media," Reardon said.
The AFTRA statement said the draft agreement will be considered by the union's National Board on June 6-7 in Los Angeles. If approved, the agreement -- scheduled to come into effect on July 1-- will be submitted for ratification by the membership, which includes 52,000 actors.
According to AFTRA, the agreement:
-- Establishes wage increases in traditional media in each year of the contract;
-- Increases employer contributions to the AFTRA Health and Retirement plan;
-- Establishes AFTRA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet and other new media;
-- Establishes new residual payments for paid Internet downloads, and residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet;
-- Establishes a sunset provision that allows both sides to revisit agreements pertaining to new media;
-- Increases the number of covered background actors in Los Angeles;
-- Secures rest provisions for background performers in Los Angeles, and
-- Improves the terms and conditions for performers who work under the CW contract.
"This is a challenging time in the entertainment industry and this was a tough negotiation," Reardon said. "Our ability to achieve these crucial breakthroughs for performers was a direct result of AFTRA members' pragmatic approach to collective bargaining."
"We appreciate the support we received from the Hollywood labor community, and we wish our brothers and sisters in the Screen Actors Guild the very best as they resume their own contract talks," she added.
SAG and the producers' association are resuming talks later Wednesday after a three-week break.
The two sides met 18 times from April 15 through May 6 without reaching an agreement. SAG's contract expires on June 30. Both sides are trying to avoid a repeat of the 100-day writers strike, which crippled production. SAG has not scheduled a date for a strike-authorization vote.
According to a letter from SAG President Alan Rosenberg to members posted on the guild's website, the main outstanding issues include increasing compensation for "middle class actors", continuing to give actors the right to consent to the use of clips, the guild's desire to have jurisdiction over all new-media projects, and paying residuals for new-media productions, such as those intended to be distributed via the Internet or cellular telephones.
When talks broke down, the alliance issued a statement asserting that "the negotiations were thrust into reverse by SAG's persistent refusal to acknowledge that the three deals already struck with the writers, directors and AFTRA reflect the economic realities faced by everyone in our industry, including actors."
Source:Xinhua
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