SAG-AFTRA REACHES DEAL W/ VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY!

Dear Member,

We have great news. Our negotiating committee has reached an agreement to end the strike against 11 video game companies that has been ongoing since October 21, 2016. Accordingly, you are free to resume working for the companies that were struck on all titles effective immediately.

I want to acknowledge the incredible work of the SAG-AFTRA Interactive Negotiating Committee, chaired by Keythe Farley. Their commitment to reflecting the concerns and the voices of the member community is embodied in this agreement.

The terms of the tentative agreement, which was reached early Saturday morning, resolved two points of contention we had with the employers: transparency and secondary compensation.

First, it instituted a new bonus structure that provides an additional payment to performers beyond their session fee. The newly-bargained terms also include significant improvements in the area of transparency.

This expanded information will empower performers and their representatives to bargain knowledgeably for compensation and to understand the nature of the performance that will be required, both of which have been a challenge for our members in an environment characterized by code names and secrecy.  

The National Board will vote on the contract at its October meeting. The new terms take effect upon ratification.

In the meantime, members are free to provide covered services pursuant to the expired terms of the prior Interactive Media Agreement with the struck companies effective immediately.

Strength in unity,

Gabrielle Carteris

THE NEW DEAL IS ON! SAG-AFTRA AND PRODUCERS SHAKE HANDS ON $256 MILLION INCREASE.

Dear Member,

We are thrilled to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on successor agreements covering motion pictures, scripted primetime dramatic television and new media production.

Significant improvements were secured in the residuals rate paid to performers for exhibition of their performances on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon. Under the new terms, actors will receive residuals for exhibition on subscription video on-demand platforms earlier, now after 90 days instead of after one year. The new formula delivers a 300% increase in residuals to performers within their first two years when their work is exhibited worldwide on Netflix.

SAG-AFTRA achieved a historic breakthrough in the rules governing travel for television performers, including an up to five-fold increase in the fees due to series performers who work at locations away from home. The travel rules for television have been rationalized and clarified, closing many loopholes and ambiguities that have allowed for abuse.

Series performer option rules were greatly improved, with the effect of reducing exclusivity periods for many series performers during which they can be held off the market.

In an unprecedented breakthrough, the new deal improves the overtime provisions for background actors working in the West Coast Zones so that they match New York standards while protecting against the attempted removal of night premiums in the New York Zone. Additionally, the committee improved the pay rate for photo doubles and achieved superior terms for background actors employed under the CW Supplement.

The committee also secured an additional 5 percent increase in the first year of the contract for stunt coordinators working under flat deal contracts in television.

Additionally, there is a first-year increase of .5 percent in the contribution rate applicable to the SAG Pension Plan and the AFTRA Retirement Fund, bringing the total benefits contribution rate to 17.5 percent. The union may also elect to convert an additional one half of one percent from the wage package in each of the second and third year.

Highlights of the tentative agreement include:

• Total package valued at $256 million over three years
• 3-year agreement commencing July 1, 2017 and expiring June 30, 2020
  
• Wage increases of 2.5 percent in the first year, 3 percent in the second year and 3 percent in the third year
• Half percent increase in the current rate of employer contributions paid to the SAG Pension Plan and AFTRA Retirement Fund in the first year of the agreement, raising the total contribution rate to 17.5 percent effective July 1, 2017
• Secured an additional .2 percent increase in funding to the SAG-AFTRA industry cooperative funds, which will support monitoring animal safety on sets, safety training and sexual harassment prevention training
• Achieved recognition of Middle Eastern North African as a diverse category in the casting data report
• Agreement to study the design and implementation of an electronic reporting system for performer work times
• Improved residuals for programming made for SVOD (subscription video-on-demand)
  • First residual is now due in 90 days rather than one year
  • Increase in the residual rate
    
  • First ever residuals compensation for foreign use
• Improvements to money and schedule breaks
• Improvements to the advertiser-supported streaming residuals
  
• Outsized increase of 18 percent for background actors working under the CW supplement
• Terms requiring that all background actors be paid double-time starting after 10 hours of work
  

The new three-year agreement will be presented to the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors for their approval on July 15 to be followed by a member ratification vote. Watch your email for further updates.

Thank you for your participation and involvement. Your steadfast support of SAG-AFTRA on social media vividly clarified to management that our negotiators had the strong backing of the board and our membership. This unity granted us the strength and leverage to achieve real gains on some of our membership’s most pressing items. 

In unity,

Gabrielle Carteris
President and Chair of the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee

David White
National Executive Director
and Chief Negotiator

VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY RELEASES- BS DOCUMENTS TO BLAME SAG/AFTRA, FOR THE STRIKE.

From PR Newswire:

Video Game Companies today released copies of the Companies' and the Union's last proposals which show that the Companies matched SAG-AFTRA's requests for wages, benefits, and additional compensation before the Union called its strike. The documents also show that the Companies and the Union had reached agreement to collaboratively investigate vocal stress issues during the term of the next contract.

"These proposals exchanged across the table prove the Companies and SAG-AFTRA have largely agreed on the significant issues before us except for the label we have placed on the 'Additional Compensation,' which would be paid above and beyond our proposed 9% pay increase," said Scott J. Witlin of the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg, the chief negotiator for the Video Game Companies. "The documents also demonstrate that the Companies value performers and reached agreement with the Union on the issue of vocal stress."

Witlin reiterated that the Companies have been impressed by the research presented by SAG-AFTRA into the issue of vocal stress. The Companies attempted to address the concerns raised by the SAG-AFTRA bargaining committee during negotiations by offering performers innovative working arrangements including split sessions and multiple performer sessions, but those proposals were rejected by SAG-AFTRA leaders.  

"Among their proposals, the Companies offered to split a 4-hour recording session into two, two-hour portions with the second session to be performed within five days of the first session to ease the stress on performers, but this and other offers were rejected by SAG-AFTRA. This is an area that the parties have agreed to continue to collaboratively investigate during the term of the next contract. Exploring ways to further improve working conditions is something both sides should be committed to," Witlin added. 

The Video Game Companies released a chart and supporting documentation from both the Companies and SAG-AFTRA to demonstrate that the Companies' final proposal to SAG-AFTRA is almost identical to the Union's proposal. 

The chart validates the Companies' position that they have substantially met SAG-AFTRA's last proposal, including the topic of workplace safety. There is nearly no difference between the Companies' final proposal and the Union's proposal. The wages, additional compensation, pension and health contributions, vocal stress, stunt coordination, and transparency proposals are almost identical as summarized below: 

9 Percent Wage Hike

The Companies exceeded the Union's request for a 3% raise over each of the next three years by Companiesoffering a 9 percent up-front increase, but only if a new agreement is ratified by December 1.

Additional Compensation

In the Companies' final proposal, the Companies increased the maximum amount of Additional Compensation to match the amount of the Union's request for a 'contingent' compensation buy out of up to $950. While the Companies have held to their position that there will be no 'contingent' compensation, the Companies have proposed a schedule of "Additional Compensation" that largely matches SAG-AFTRA's last demand, including the total aggregated figure and the number of sessions necessary to earn that amount. This offer, too, must be ratified by December 1 to become effective. 

Pension and Health Contributions

The Companies agreed to the Union's request for a 0.5% increase and have agreed in principal regarding which of the benefit plans the money should be directed to.

Vocal Stress Issues

After the Union rejected the Companies' proposals concerning modifying voice over sessions to mitigate any risk of vocal stress, the parties agreed on forming a joint cooperative committee to study vocal stress issues. 

Stunt Coordination

The expired Interactive Media Agreement between the Companies and SAG-AFTRA already provides for a stunt coordinator to be on site for sessions that include stunts. While SAG-AFTRA made no new proposals in this area, it did seek further clarification about the use of stunt coordinators and both sides agreed to continue those discussions through the cooperative committee during the term of the new agreement. 

Transparency

The Union's proposal requested additional up front information when booking performers in video games to know more information (game title name, new role or a reprise of a previous role). The Companies enhanced their proposal to agree to provide the code name of the project and whether the performer will be asked to reprise a previous role. While SAG-AFTRA contends that the video game industry is the only industry not to require an employer to reveal the name of the project on which a performer is working, SAG-AFTRA has no such requirement in Television, Theatrical Motion Pictures or Animation agreements.  

Summary

Except for the label on the Companies' 'Additional Compensation' proposal, there are no significant material differences between the Companies' final proposal and the Union's last proposal. The wages, additional compensation, pension and health contributions, vocal stress, stunt coordination, and transparency proposals are almost identical. 

"The Union negotiating committee's continued public positioning of workplace safety as a rationale for striking these pro-Union Companies is disingenuous and paternalistic," Witlin said. "SAG-AFTRA should allow its affected members to vote on the Companies' final proposal and determine for themselves whether the semantic difference that does exist between 'additional compensation' and 'residual' is worth the costs of a strike."

JOHNNY DEEP GETS HOMELESS- INTO THE UNION.