SAG-AFTRA

The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA /ˌsæɡˈæftrə/) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, recording artists, singers, voice actors, internet influencers, fashion models, and other media professionals worldwide. The organization was formed on March 30, 2012, following the merger of the Screen Actors Guild (created in 1933) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (created in 1937 as American Federation of Radio Artists, becoming AFTRA in 1952 after merger with Television Authority).[6] SAG-AFTRA is a member of the AFL–CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States.[7]

SAG-AFTRA
Full nameScreen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
FoundedMarch 30, 2012 (2012-03-30)
Members116,741 ("active" members) (2016)[1]
80,440 (other members; withdrawn/suspended) (2014)[2]
AffiliationAAAA, AFL-CIO, IFJ, FIA
Key people
  • Gabrielle Carteris, National President[3][4]
  • Rebecca Damon, Executive Vice President
  • Camryn Manheim, Secretary-Treasurer
  • Clyde Kusatsu, National Vice President, Los Angeles
  • Liz Zazzi, National Vice President, New York
  • Michele Proude, National Vice President, Mid-Sized Locals
  • Suzanne Burkhead, National Vice President, Small Locals
  • William Charlton, National Vice President, Actors/Performers
  • Bob Butler, National Vice President, Broadcasters
  • Dan Navarro, National Vice President, Recording Artists/Singers
Office location5757 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, California
1900 Broadway
New York, New York
(national headquarters)[5]
CountryUnited States
Websitewww.sagaftra.org

History

As of January 2013, Variety reported that the merger had proceeded with "few bumps", amid shows of good will on both sides. The stickiest remaining problem was reported to be the merger of the two pension funds, in part as a way of dealing with the issue of performers who paid into each plan, yet did not quite earn enough under either of the old plans to qualify for a pension.[8] The union is perceived as having two factions. The larger faction has focused on creating job opportunities for members. A second faction has criticized the current administration for being too quick and soft when it comes to negotiations with studios.[9]

Ken Howard, first president of the merged union, died on March 23, 2016.[4] He was succeeded as president by Gabrielle Carteris on April 9, 2016.[3]

SAG-AFTRA Plaza in Los Angeles, California, headquarters to SAG-AFTRA

Composition

SAG-AFTRA has a diverse membership consisting of actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, disc jockeys, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists, and other media professionals.

Membership in SAG-AFTRA is considered a rite of passage for new performers and media professionals. It is often procured after getting hired for their first job in a studio that has a collective bargaining agreement with the union.[10] SAG-AFTRA work is considered to be substantially more prestigious than non-union jobs. Due to the size and influence of the union, most major media firms have a collective bargaining agreement with SAG-AFTRA through the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Studios that have signed a collective bargaining agreement with SAG-AFTRA are not closed shops, but are generally required to give preference to union members first when hiring.

Nearly all professional actors and media professionals working for medium or large-scale American media firms are expected to be unionized. As a result, SAG-AFTRA has many members who are consistently out of work, uncommon for a union, but reflective of how work is procured in the industry. According to SAG-AFTRA's Department of Labor records since its founding, around 34%, or a third, of the union's total membership have consistently been considered "withdrawn," "suspended," or otherwise not categorized as "active" members. These members are ineligible to vote in the union.[11] "Honorable withdrawals" constitute the largest portion of these, at 20% of the total membership, or 46,934 members. "Suspended payment" members are the second largest, at 14%, or 33,422 members.[2] This classification scheme is continued from the Screen Actors Guild,[12] rather than the scheme used by AFTRA.[13]

SAG-AFTRA is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and in New York City in addition to other local offices nationwide.[5]

Major strikes and boycotts

Global Rule One

Under Global Rule One, no SAG-AFTRA members are allowed to work for any producer who has not executed a minimum basic agreement with the union that is in full force and effect. This rule applies worldwide.[14]

Do not work orders are formally issued to denote productions that have not entered into the required agreements.[15]

2016–17 strike
Main article: 2016–17 video game voice actor strike

After about a year and a half of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA issued a strike on October 21, 2016, against eleven American video game developers and publishers, including Activision, Electronic Arts, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Interactive, and WB Games. The strike resulted from attempted negotiations since February 2015 to replace the previous contract, the Interactive Media Agreement, that expired in late 2014.[16] There were four major issues being fought for with this strike. Transparency, so actors can better negotiate their contracts, preventing vocal stress from long recording sessions, stunt coordinators on performance capture sets, and payment of residuals based on sales of a video game,[17] which have traditionally not been used in the video game industry. SAG-AFTRA members sought to bring equity for video game actors as in other industries, while the video game companies feared that giving residuals to actors would overshadow the contributions of programmers and artists that contribute to the games. It was the first such organized strike within the video game industry and the first voice actors' strike in 17 years, as well as the first strike within the merged SAG-AFTRA organization. As of April 23, 2017, it became the longest strike within SAG, surpassing the 95-day 1980 Emmy Awards strike, and the 2000 commercials strike.[18]

An agreement was reached on September 23, 2017, ending the 340-day strike.[19]

Bartle Bogle Hegarty strike

On September 20, 2018, SAG called a strike against global advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty over certain waivers for low-budget commercials that BBH added, among other provisions. Earlier that month, BBH had withdrawn from their contract with SAG, which was first agreed on in 1999, over contractual terms that stated BBH would not be allowed to hire non-union actors, which they believed put them at competitive disadvantage as many of their peer agencies were not signatories.[20][21][22]

On July 20, 2019, SAG ended its 10-month strike against BBH after the advertising agency agreed to sign the union’s new commercials contract.[23]

Organizing campaigns

Telemundo

On February 9, 2016, NBCUniversal, Telemundo's parent company, faced claims by SAG-AFTRA of operating under a double standard between its Spanish-language and English-language talent at NBC and Telemundo. In its response, the network released a statement claiming it is “committed to making Telemundo a great place to work for our employees and will continue to invest in them to ensure their salaries and working conditions are competitive with the rest of the broadcasting industry in accordance with market size and station revenues.”

A few days later on February 13, 2016, SAG-AFTRA came back and added that Telemundo had been treating its employees like “second-class professionals” given that many actors do not receive basic workplace guarantees that SAG-AFTRA contracts provide, such as fair pay, water breaks, health insurance and residuals. At that time, Telemundo president Luis Silberwasser responded by saying that SAG-AFTRA asked for recognition of the union as the bargaining agent for employees — rather than seeking a vote by employees. However, SAG-AFTRA claimed that intimidation tactics had been taking place within the network to keep employees from unionizing and that they believe “there is no such thing as a ‘fair vote’ when workers are afraid for their careers and livelihoods, and live with the fear of retaliation if they are seen as actively wanting to unionize. SAG-AFTRA wants to ensure full protection for workplace democracy and performers’ rights to choose through a truly fair process.”[24]

In August 2016, Telemundo once again found itself up against the union when the network refused to air an ad placed by SAG-AFTRA detailing the unfair wage gap and lack of benefits Telemundo employees face as opposed to unionized performers at NBCUniversal. The ad was set to air during the network’s premiere people’s choice awards Premios Tu Mundo but was never placed into rotation. A Telemundo spokesperson responded saying, “After legal review, we have concluded the ad did not pass legal standards for issue-based advertisement.” Meanwhile, other Spanish-language networks such as MegaTV and Estrella TV aired the ad nationwide.[25]

SAG-AFTRA continued to stand its ground, stating that "Telemundo's decision to censor 30 seconds of truthful commentary about its working conditions shows just how averse it is to having a transparent discussion about its refusal to fairly compensate Spanish-speaking performers."[25]

In March 2016, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administered a secret vote amongst 124 Telemundo performers, based on the amount of time actors have worked on telenovela dramas and other shows. SAG-AFTRA announced that 81% of eligible voters chose to unionize in a balloting process that began Feb. 7 and lasted four weeks.[26]

Joining the union will allow Telemundo actors, along with singers, dancers and stunt people, to bargain with the network for health insurance, residual payments and other benefits that are routine at English-language television networks.[27]

References
  1. Whipp, Glenn, SAG Awards 2016: Take that, Oscars -- diversity's the big winner tonight, Los Angeles Times, January 30, 2016
  2. US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-391. Report submitted July 30, 2014.
  3. Rodriguez, Brenda (April 9, 2016). "With new president, SAG-AFTRA makes historic change by putting women in leadership". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  4. Olsen, Mark (March 23, 2016). "Ken Howard, actor and president of SAG-AFTRA, dies at 71". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  5. "Contact Us". SAG-AFTRA. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  6. "SAG, AFTRA Members Approve Merger to Form SAG-AFTRA" (Press release). SAG-AFTRA. March 30, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  7. "Unions of the AFL-CIO". AFL-CIO. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  8. McNary, Dave (January 25, 2013). "SAG, AFTRA merger makes for few bumps". Variety.
  9. Verrier, Richard, SAG-AFTRA election reflects fears over actors' pay for online shows, Los Angeles Times, August 4, 2015
  10. SAG-AFTRA, Steps to Join
  11. US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-391. (Search)
  12. US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-113. (Search)
  13. US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-030. (Search)
  14. Robb, David (2019-07-17). "Jane Austin, SAG-AFTRA Presidential Candidate, Has A Plan To Fix A Union That "Has Lost Its Way"". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  15. Robb, David (2018-10-18). "SAG-AFTRA Rescinds Do-Not-Work Order For 'Keys To The City' TV Movie". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  16. Smith, Iman (October 22, 2016). "Voice Actors Strike Against Video Game Companies". NPR. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  17. Critical Scope (2017-03-30), Voice actors Matt Mercer & Marisha Ray discuss SAG-AFTRA Interactive Strike (AnimeMilwaukee), retrieved 2017-03-31
  18. Robb, David (January 24, 2017). "Actors Strike Against Video Game Industry Now Second-Longest in SAG History". Deadline. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  19. McNary, Dave (September 25, 2017). "SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike Ends After a Year". Variety. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  20. McNary, Dave (2018-09-20). "SAG-AFTRA Calls a Strike Against Ad Agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty". Variety. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  21. (TNS), David Ng Los Angeles Times. "SAG-AFTRA clashes with ad industry over rise in nonunion commercial production". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  22. Robb, David (2018-09-06). "SAG-AFTRA Accuses Bartle Bogle Hegarty Ad Agency Of Lying To Actors About Commercials Pact". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  23. McNary, Dave (2019-07-20). "SAG-AFTRA Ends Long Strike Against Ad Agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty". Variety. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  24. McNary, Dave (13 February 2016). "SAG-AFTRA, Telemundo Unionization Battle Heats Up". Variety. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  25. Handel, Jonathan (29 August 2016). "Telemundo Refuses to Air SAG-AFTRA Ad About Language Equity". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  26. Ng, David (August 16, 2017). "Telemundo actors vote overwhelmingly to join SAG-AFTRA". Los Angeles Times.
  27. Wiessner, Daniel (August 16, 2017). "Telemundo actors form first Spanish-language television union". Reuters.
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