Members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted to ratify a new contract negotiated with Hollywood production companies.
The results were announced Monday with a 78.3% vote in favor, with 38% of eligible members voting.
“I’m proud of our SAG-AFTRA membership. They struck for 118 days to grant the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee the necessary leverage to secure over $1 billion in gains, along with the union’s first-ever protections around AI technology,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement Monday. “Now they’ve locked in the gains by ratifying the contract. SAG-AFTRA members have remained incredibly engaged throughout this process, and I know they’ll continue their advocacy throughout our next negotiation cycle. This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful.”
The vote came weeks after a tentative agreement was announced, ending a 118-day strike that saw actors picket in front of several studios that were represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), such as Netflix, Disney, NBC-Universal, Amazon, Apple and Warner Bros.
“Today’s tentative agreement represents a new paradigm,” the AMPTP said in November after the tentative agreement was reached. “It gives SAG-AFTRA the biggest contract-on-contract gains in the history of the union, including the largest increase in minimum wages in the last forty years; a brand new residual for streaming programs; extensive consent and compensation protections in the use of artificial intelligence; and sizable contract increases on items across the board. The AMPTP is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement and looks forward to the industry resuming the work of telling great stories.”
Voters had a month to cast their votes electronically, or by mail, with a Dec. 5 deadline.
Among the changes to the contract were wage increases for background actors, an increase in pension and healthcare capacity, and certain “protections” related to using Artificial Intelligence to replicate or alter the actors’ likenesses or voices.
The ratification of the actors’ contract came nearly two months after Hollywood writers ratified their own contract and reached an agreement with the AMPTP until May 1, 2026.
The agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP is retroactive to Nov. 9 when the tentative agreement was reached, and will run through June 30, 2026.
Credit: laweekly.com
