With threat of strike looming overhead, SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) recently ratified a new three-year deal.

The new deal will generate an additional $256 million for performers over the next three years, according to SAG-AFTRA representatives. The agreement includes wage increases, funding increases, improved residuals, better pay regulations for background actors, and more.

SAG-AFTRA president and negotiating committee chair Gabrielle Carteris said, “This is a forward-looking package with meaningful gains across our entire membership…Over the last 18 months, I’ve met and talked extensively with members throughout the country. Those conversations, along with our comprehensive Wages and Working Conditions meetings, guided our bargaining strategy and helped build strength and unity. I am grateful to our members for their input and steadfast support which helped us achieve this excellent result.”

David White, SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator, added, “This negotiation was a heavy lift. We addressed several critical concerns related to travel pay and option periods as well as improving the residuals structure for streaming new media. We also achieved historic gains for our background community and additional enhancements affecting the general membership.”

SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP clashed for months over the renewed agreement, with SAG-AFTRA representatives calling AMPTP’s proposed rollbacks “outrageous” and “unacceptable.” Carteris and White had sent a message to guild members at the end of June announcing strike authorization, following continued clash with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, with an ultimatum for the end of the month. AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA

agreed to a three-day extension, upon which the agreement was met.

The full announcement can be viewed at the SAG-AFTRA website.

SAG-AFTRA is currently in the midst of its video game voice actor strike since the end of 2016. Union strikes have occurred as far back as the 1950s, most notably the Emmy boycott and strike that spanned nearly 100 days in the 1980s fronted by Ed Asner.