National Commercials Contract Ratified

October 28, 2003, LA/NY – In national voting completed yesterday, 34,415 members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) voted to approve the new three-year television and radio commercials contracts by a majority of 94% in favor to 6% against.

Of the 128,846 ballots mailed to SAG and AFTRA members, 34,415 (27%) were returned to the designated post office box in Everett, Washington by yesterday’s deadline. The agreement between AFTRA, SAG and the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) on Broadcast Talent Union Relations of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) was reached on September 24 in New York City, and becomes effective October 30, 2003.

“We applaud SAG and AFTRA members for approving these solid contract gains by such an overwhelming margin," stated SAG President Melissa Gilbert and AFTRA President John Connolly. "This ratification enables commercial performers to work uninterrupted while building on the meaningful gains of previous contracts. We are also delighted that our members recognize the enormous efforts of the members serving as the Negotiating Committee for this important contract in achieving both wage and health care contribution gains without sacrifice. It’s important to note how much authority the unions were able to bring to the negotiating table because our committee was comprised entirely of working AFTRA and SAG actors. Looking forward, we will now focus on the challenge of preparing for our Theatrical and Television negotiations where the issues we must tackle are significant and complex.”

“For the first time in recent history, these contracts were negotiated and ratified prior to the expiration date. In light of the difficult negotiations presently facing labor unions, especially in the area of health benefits, we are pleased that the employers recognize the value SAG and AFTRA members bring and that those contributions are reflected in increased wage and health care fund contributions,” said chief negotiators, SAG National Executive Director/CEO Bob Pisano and AFTRA Assistant National Executive Director Mathis Dunn.

Highlights of the deal include:

• 1% SAG Pension and Health Plan and AFTRA Health and Retirement Plan contribution increase (from 13.3% to 14.3%) marking the largest increase in contributions since 1991 and earmarked for the unions’ health plans.

• 7% gain in session, holding, foreign, theatrical/industrial and internet fees

• 5% increase in wild spot use fees (television only)

• 15% increase in Spanish-language program use fees. In the last three commercials contracts, the unions have achieved over 50% in fee increases in connection with the exploding Spanish language advertising market (television only)

• 20% increase in the fees paid to voice-over performers for cable use. In the last commercials contract negotiation voice-over performers agreed to allocate a portion of their cable fees to the on-camera cable fees by reducing the historical allocation between voice-over and on-camera fees. This increase recovers half of that reduction (television only)

• 5% increase in fees for national cable use for on-camera performers (television only)

• 6.1% increase in session fees for background actors and an increase in 5 covered background jobs (television only)

• 7% increase in wild spot use fees (radio only)

• The creation and implementation of Standard Employment Contracts (radio only)

• The creation of a special subcommittee of the Industry Union Standing Committee to study the issue of “multiplexing,” the practice of broadcasting two or more programs simultaneously over different channels of the same network (television only)

The unions anticipate no delay in the implementation of these new terms as payroll companies have received timely notice of these contract amendments.

Joint AFTRA/SAG informational meetings were held in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C. during September and October allowing members to ask questions and hear details of the agreements prior to casting their votes. Integrity Voting Systems tabulated the ballots.

The Screen Actors Guild-Producers Industry Advancement & Cooperative Fund approved funding on October 23 for the development of an extensive monitoring system. This web-based program will ultimately enable performers to verify use of their commercials and assure proper payment of residuals. An independent commercial monitoring vendor will be engaged to design and implement the system, as part of a joint effort by the JPC and the unions to address this issue.