Unions approve film, TV production pacts.SAG (1) A momentary drop in voltage from the power source. Contrast with spike. (2) (SAG) (SQL Access Group) See CLI. , AFTRA AFTRA American Federation of Television & Radio Artists boards beat deadline by wide margin Directors of Hollywood's two actors unions - the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is a performers' union that represents a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, as well as radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists (both royalty - have voted in favor of two pacts with producers for new contracts regarding theatrical-film and television productions. The two agreements by the unions' Joint National Board of Directors still have to be ratified by their rank-and-file members. Those votes are scheduled before the contract expires June 30. Still, the move is seen as almost ensuring that production schedules will not be interrupted by an actors strike against either the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers or the Big Three networks - ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. , NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. and CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. . Harry Medved, SAG national director of communications Director of Communications is a position in the private and public sectors. The Director of Communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. , said it would be unusual for the membership to reject a contract the board has already approved. Ballots and a summary of the contract are going out to members on May 26, Medved said, and will be returned by June 21. "We're proud of the fact that we haven't had a strike on this contract since 1980," Medved said. "We feel that this (new contract) is a good deal for both actors and producers." The two unions - collectively representing some 110,000 members nationwide - began negotiations in February on a new three-year contract to set basic wages and working conditions on all theatrical films and many television productions. Typically, the AMPTP AMPTP Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers AMPTP Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the networks sit on one side of the bargaining table, with SAG and AFTRA on the other side. The AMPTP represents the major studios and production companies in all their union contract negotiations, while ABC, NBC and CBS represent themselves. But this year, the networks split with the AMPTP over the question of the Fox network's status. Sources said the Big Three networks felt that Fox - technically not a network by Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. standards since it does not broadcast around the clock - should nonetheless pay the higher residual rates to actors that the other networks do. The split occurred when Fox, which is represented in the negotiations by the AMPTP, disagreed. Thus, the unions and the AMPTP hammered out a preliminary agreement on March 24, but no similar pact with the three networks was forthcoming. The actors union had to go back to the bargaining table with the networks, and negotiators reached a tentative agreement on May 5. With both tentative agreements in hand, the labor negotiators were then able to go to the unions' Joint National Board of Directors. The Western Section of the joint board voted 50-13 to approve the AMPTP deal, and 50-8 to approve the network deal. The Eastern Section of the joint board voted 66-0 on the AMPTP agreement, and 64-0 on the network deal. Details of the agreements will not be made public until after they are approved by the full memberships of both unions. Yet, despite the contentious break between the networks and the AMPTP, a source close to the situation said the contracts negotiated with each group turned out to be much alike. "It's basically the same deal," the source said. |
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