SAG-AFTRA members approve new contract

Members of SAG-AFTRA voted overwhelmingly Friday to approve a new film and TV contract.

The union’s membership voted 92% in a favor of the new three-year agreement, which provides modest pay hikes for members of Hollywood’s largest union.

The contract includes pay rate increases of 2.5% in the first year of the agreement, and an additional 3% in the second and third years. The union, which has more than 165,000 members, also secured a slight increase in contributions that producers will make to the union’s pension and health plans.

The contract also includes a reduction of unpaid online streaming windows for most shows, and a new residual payment for on-demand viewing.

The talks mark the first time the union has bargained on a film and TV contract since the Screen Actors Guild merged with its smaller rival union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, two years ago. In addition to actors, AFTRA also represents recording artists, disc jockeys, broadcast journalists and dancers.

The pact also brings uniformity to TV contracts, bringing them under a single master contract to replace separate agreements that existed before the two former rival unions combined.

“This is a terrific result for our first TV/Theatrical negotiation as a merged union,� SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator David White said in a statement. “We emerged with solid financial gains and with a structural foundation that supports the union’s strategic goals well into the future.�

SAG-AFTRA began talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on May 5.