The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild have reached a tentative agreement with industry leaders on their new non-broadcast/industrial contracts, the unions announced in a joint statement on Thursday.
SAG's industrial and educational contract and AFTRA's national code of fair practice for non-broad
cast/industrial/educational recorded material were both set to expire on April 30. The new, three-year agreements will go into effect on May 1, until April 30, 2014.
The new agreement will mandate only two 2 percent minimum wage increases spread across three years.
The deal also includes a narrow.02 percent increase in employer contributions to SAG's pension and health plans and AFTRA's health and retirement funds, effective May 1, 2011, bumping that contribuiton up to 15.5 percent
In addition, new media will now fall under the jurisdiction of the contracts.
SAG"s negotiating chair, Ed Kelly, said of the deal-making session, "We were all focused on working together to remove as many obstacles as possible in order to encourage more work under this contract."
AFTRA's Mike Kraft added, "For union performers, securing work under this contract often makes the critical difference in qualifying for health and retirement benefits and in smaller markets such as Cleveland, this contract is our ‘bread and butter.’"
