The Los Angeles Local of the 160,000-strong SAG-AFTRA entertainer’s union announced Wednesday that it had voted to oppose ratification of the union’s new film and TV contract, reached at the end of June.
“Unprecedented. The SAG-AFTRA L.A. Local board has rejected supporting the tentative 2020 TV/theatrical contract by a supermajority vote of 69% to 31%,” blared a statement issued by the local.
The statement said the L.A. Local board represents 50 percent of the entire membership and brings in 55% of total earnings. Nonetheless, the local board’s vote is only advisory, while the national board’s vote comes with a recommendation to the members to vote yes on the new pact.
The statement said the L.A. local, including its president, actress Patricia Richardson of “Home Improvement” fame, would hold a virtual news conference at 8 a.m. to discuss its concerns regarding the draft contract.
One of the elements the speakers are expected to stress is that the proposed contract would “lock in historic losses and missed opportunities.”
“A ‘no’ vote would empower our negotiating team to go back to the table to get a better deal,” Richardson said.
In contrast to the L.A. local, SAG-AFTRA’s national board has approved the tentative three-year film and TV contract by a vote of 67.6% to 32.4%. The union says the new pact with management will boost members’ incomes by $318 million over three years, including a 26% gain in streaming residuals, and wage increases of 2.5% in the first year and 3% in each of the second and third years.
Funding of the union’s benefits plans are projected to increase by $97 million over three years, with $54 million in additional funding for the Health Plan. There are also improvements to how foreign streaming residuals are calculated.
“I am thankful to the board for its approval and recommendation of this agreement,” SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris, who chaired the union’s negotiating committee, has said. “This deal represents the needs and interests of our members as they shared them with us during our national Wages and Working Condition meetings held across the country.”