Ballot Referendum Package

Posted December 10, 2010
12:30 PM PST

Click here for the full Referendum Package.

Click here to view a Summary of the Tentative Agreement.

Click here to view the Informational Meeting Schedule.
(Added: Seattle Informational Meeting. Click here.)
 

Dear AFTRA and/or SAG Member:

On behalf of the Joint SAG/AFTRA Negotiating Committee and the Joint AFTRA/SAG National Board of Directors, we are pleased to enclose for your ratification the terms for successor agreements to the Screen Actors Guild Codified Basic Agreement, Screen Actors Guild Television Agreement, Exhibit A of the AFTRA Network Television Code and the CW Supplement for SAG and AFTRA. These new agreements, if ratified by the joint memberships, will become effective on July 1, 2011 and continue to and including June 30, 2014.

The Joint Negotiating Committee and the Joint National Board of Directors overwhelmingly approved the agreements and recommend that you VOTE YES to ratify these agreements when you receive your ratification ballot. Your ballot must be received at the Post Office Box in the return envelope no later than 5:00 p.m. (PST) on January 14, 2011. Do not send your ballot to the SAG or AFTRA office.

The new contract terms achieve the priority goal of the Joint W&W Committees and the Negotiating Committee: A significant increase in the employer contributions to the Unions’ health/pension/retirement plans. The increase in SAG Pension and Health (P&H) and AFTRA Health and Retirement (H&R) negotiated by your Joint Negotiating Committee – which boosts the current 15% contribution rate by 10% bringing the AFTRA H&R and SAG P&H contribution rate to 16.5% effective July 1, 2011 –  is the most significant increase in the past 20 years. This will provide important added revenue to assist your plans in addressing the aftermath of the 2008 decline in the U.S. economy and the impending increases in the cost of providing important health care benefits to working performers.

Upon ratification by you, the new contracts will also include increases in minimum rates beginning on July 1, 2011, without interruption in production. The members of the Negotiating Committee, all of whom work under these contracts, bargained hard for important gains, including a breakthrough in adding “major role” minimum to series made for Pay Television for the first time.

Due to the holidays, the time period for reviewing and returning your ballot has been extended to five weeks (rather than the traditional three-week time period). This will afford every member the opportunity to carefully review the terms of the proposed agreements before voting. A list of scheduled joint SAG Branch/AFTRA Local informational meetings on the tentative agreements can be found on the next page. Please study the Summary of Proposed Agreement carefully, and be sure to return your ballot so that it is received at the Post Office Box on or before 5:00 p.m. (PST) on January 14, 2011.

Ballots must be mailed in the enclosed postage paid return envelope and received at the Post Office Box in Everett, Washington, no later than the end of business 5:00 p.m. (PST) on Friday, January 14, 2011. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail SAG at contract2011@sag.org, or AFTRA at primetime2011@aftra.com or call your SAG Branch Office or AFTRA Local office.

FOR THE JOINT NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS

KEN HOWARD                                 ROBERTA REARDON
SAG National President                   AFTRA National President

DAVID P. WHITE                              KIM ROBERTS HEDGPETH
SAG National Executive Director    AFTRA National Executive Director

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