AMPTP, SAG Form Tentative Deal

Published by Jeff Leins on April 19, 2009

On Friday, the Screen Actors Guild and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached a tentative agreement on a new, two year contract.  The previous contract has been expired since June 30, 2008 and negotiations have continually broken down between the two organizations as another strike loomed over the proceedings.

Yesterday, the joint national boards for SAG and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) approved the agreement, which means the deal will be send to SAG membership for ratification.  Sources have told Nikki Finke the new deal is almost identical to the one signed by AFTRA, a contract widely criticized by SAG leadership at the time.

If the majority of its membership votes yes, the new deal would expire June 30, 2011.  This puts it in line with the contract expiration dates for WGA, DGA, and AFTRA, giving the collective unions more negotiating power in two years.

The ratification voting process should take about three weeks.  The 110,000+ members of the union have been divided for months and the ballot period should be a heated battle between both sides.  A faction calling itself “Membership First” has been protesting the discussions since former executive director Doug Allen was fired from SAG’s board.  They have promised to lobby against any deal agreed to by the new task force, especially for its shortcomings in new media compensation.

The AMPTP’s website has kept a running tally of lost pay gains by the SAG actors as a result of rejecting the final offer in February.  As of Thursday, the site estimated the losses to be $66.6 million before the counter was removed.