Executive Council Statement | Civil Rights

Entertainment Unions

Los Angeles, CA

In the recently concluded negotiations with advertisers and advertising agencies, which involved a lengthy and spirited strike, the AFL-CIO and many affiliates provided crucial support to SAG and AFTRA in their successful struggle to win a fair contract. To maximize SAG/AFTRA's chances for success in upcoming negotiations with film and TV producers, we must expand and fortify this cooperative model.

Negotiations with film and TV producers involve unions other than SAG and AFTRA. The SAG and AFTRA contracts expire June 30th. The Writers Guild contracts with film and TV producers expire shortly before, in May, and will address issues similar to many of those that will be addressed in SAG/AFTRA negotiations. Consequently, cooperating in the negotiation of these related contracts has the potential to increase the pressure on film and TV producers to agree to fair settlements with all the unions with whom they are bargaining.

It is also important to understand that these negotiations will affect unions other than those that are actually bargaining. Members of IATSE, the IBT, the IBEW, the Musicians, and others are involved in film and TV production. They will be affected if there is a strike or a lockout, and they will be affected in their own negotiations with the same employers by whether the unions negotiating now achieve satisfactory contracts. Therefore, it is in their interest, as well as SAG/AFTRA's, to establish a collaborative relationship. If we develop this relationship and prepare now—before there is a crisis—in a way that maximizes our collective strength, film and television producers will understand that it is in their best interest to avoid confrontation and to negotiate good contracts peacefully.

On February 11, President Sweeney chaired a meeting with the entertainment unions to expedite planning and preparation for SAG/AFTRA negotiations. The unions participating in this meeting agreed to establish a committee in which representatives of the entertainment unions will work together and with the AFL-CIO to develop the lines of communication, the strategies and the tactics necessary for a winning contract campaign.

The Executive Council strongly endorses this important cooperative initiative by the entertainment unions and approves the provision of all appropriate support and assistance by the AFL-CIO and its affiliates to SAG/AFTRA in this critical collective bargaining struggle.