Return to the table
AFTRA, producers resume contract talks
AFTRA and reps of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers had planned to hold up to two weeks of talks last month in Los Angeles but pulled the plug after two days of negotiations, saying only that it would be more productive to wait until this week to start again. Both sides have been tight-lipped about the bargaining, with neither disclosing specifics of any proposal.
But union leaders have indicated in recent months that they expect to engage in "pattern" bargaining, with key issues similar to those in the film-TV negotiations for the Writers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA earlier this year. That means the talks will likely focus on increases in minimums; gains in supplemental markets; residuals for Fox Network and foreign TV; and use of materials on the Internet.
The current three-year AFTRA "net code" pact covers earnings of over $400 million and provided a 3% increase in daily pay rates during the first year of the contract and 3.5% increases in each of the second and third years. The contract covers primetime nondramatic and syndicated programs, newsmagazine shows, daytime dramas, variety shows, gamers and yakkers, sports programs and promotional announcements.
