AFTRA to Bargain Alongside SAG for TV Deal

Published: February 28, 2010 @ 9:25 am

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By Daniel Frankel

The American Federatrion of Television and Radio Artists will proceed with joint bargaining alongside the Screen Actors Guild for a new primetime TV deal with the studios next fall.

On Saturday, AFTRA’s national board unanimously approved a recommendation from a sub-committee that the labor org begin joint bargaining with SAG, when the latter guild kicks off negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers for a new primetime TV collective bargaining agreement on Oct. 1.

Primetime deals for both SAG and AFTRA expire on June 30, 2011.

Under recently elected president Ken Howard, SAG has been pushing of late for joint bargaining with AFTRA. With SAG acrimoniously divided with AFTRA during its last round of studio negotiations, Howard and his fellow guild moderates feel going it alone significantly weakened their bargaining position.

Joint bargaining for a new prime-time deal is believed to be the first step toward what could ultimately be another attempt to merge the two talent unions. And for its part, AFTER seems willing to once again go down that road.

However, AFTRA’s announcement Saturday did not address one logistical hiccup: the labor org is also scheduled to negotiate this fall a new “Networks Code” deal -- the one that covers newscasters, daytime stars and pretty much everyone else on TV who’s not a primetime sitcom or drama actor. It’s still unclear at this point as to how AFTRA will handle this scheduling issue.

“I applaud the national board for taking this important step forward today following our productive discussions with our counterparts at the Screen Actors Guild earlier this week, specifically with respect to AFTRA’s heavy negotiating schedule,” said AFTRA national president Roberta Reardon. “I look forward to continuing our work with SAG president Ken Howard and the leadership and members of our sister union as we move forward to bargain the strongest possible contracts for professional talent.”

Here's AFTRA's complete release:

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AFTRA National Board Approves Joint Bargaining with SAG on Primetime Television

Posted February 27, 2010
5:25 PM PST

Ratifies New National Public Television Agreement

LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK (Feb. 27, 2010) --- The National Board of Directors of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), a national union of more than more 70,000 performers, journalists, broadcasters, recording artists and other talent working in the entertainment and news media, met today by videoconference plenary in Los Angeles and New York.

Tags: AFTRA, Deal Central, joint bargaining, SAG

AFTRA to Bargain Alongside SAG for TV Deal

AFTRA to Bargain Alongside SAG for TV Deal

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