Member Alerts

Why should we vote to authorize a strike?

November 26, 2008

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

As your president, I want to take this opportunity to communicate directly with you about recent developments regarding our television and motion picture contract negotiations.

November 22, 2008

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member

All paid-up SAG members who work the Television Contract are invited to an important caucus Tuesday, November 18, 2008 to discuss the New Media streaming of TV series made prior to July 1974.

A very special invitation to members who worked on shows produced in the 1950s (such as Maverick), 60s (such as Bewitched) and the 70s (such as The Brady Bunch).

Come early and bring your membership card.

Participation is limited only by the fire rules.

Joint Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Wages & Working Conditions meetings have been scheduled in preparation for negotiation of the Commercials Contracts that were extended from October 29, 2008 to March 31, 2009. All members who work the Commercials Contracts are invited to attend and participate. All W&W Committee meetings are open to all paid-up members of both Unions; participation is limited only by fire department regulations.

Joint SAG/AFTRA Commercials Contracts Caucuses to be held in Los Angeles and New York

All Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists members who work the Commercials Contracts are invited to attend these caucuses. The Commercials Contracts were extended from October 29, 2008 to March 31, 2009. Please join your fellow members to discuss issues you’d like to see addressed in the upcoming Commercials Contracts negotiations. Participation will be limited only by fire rules. Come early and bring your membership card.         

Joint Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Wages & Working Conditions meetings have been scheduled in preparation for negotiation of the Commercials Contracts that were extended from October 29, 2008 to March 31, 2009. All members who work the Commercials Contracts are invited to attend and participate. All W&W Committee meetings are open to all paid-up members of both Unions; participation is limited only by fire department regulations.

ATTENTION ALL SAG and AFTRA MEMBERS

Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are pleased to announce the beginning of the Joint Wages & Working Conditions (W&W) process in preparation for negotiation of the Commercials Contracts that were extended from October 31, 2008 to March 31, 2009. It is only through the involvement of members that proposals for this vital negotiation are developed.

October 19, 2008

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS VOTES TO REQUEST FEDERAL MEDIATOR AND
SEND STRIKE AUTHORIZATION REFERENDUM TO MEMBERS, IF NECESSARY

The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors today passed the following resolution at its quarterly plenary in Los Angeles:

“In hopes of moving the Theatrical and TV negotiations forward, the National Board hereby takes the following actions:
SAG will formally request a federal mediator be brought into the negotiations.

The Facts About the Special Bulletin and Response Card:

October 9, 2008

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

On Wednesday, October 1, the SAG National TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee passed an advisory motion to the national board of directors that will be discussed at the board’s upcoming plenary meeting in Los Angeles on October18 and19.

Los Angeles, (Sept. 30, 2008)  --  Screen Actors Guild released the following statement from SAG National executive director and chief negotiator Doug Allen in response to the AMPTP’s Sept. 29, 2008 statement:

“We are disappointed to to hear that the employers and their AMPTP representatives are refusing to engage in the process necessary to complete a deal. 

The following ad appeared in Daily Variety on September 30, 2008.

Click here to view ad.

September 29, 2008
 
J. Nicholas Counter III
President
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
 
Peter Chernin
President
Fox Group
 
Robert Iger
President and CEO
The Walt Disney Company
 
Dear Gentlemen:
 

Click here to view letter.

Click here to view release

For Immediate Release
September 26, 2008

ACTRA AND ADVERTISING AGENCIES UNABLE TO COME TO AGREEMENT
Union refuses to accept reduced earnings for performers

September 18, 2008 Dear Screen Actors Guild member, The following announcement was released yesterday.

All paid-up SAG members who work under the Interactive Media Agreements and the TV Animation Agreements are urged to attend this important contract caucus. This could be the last meeting before negotiations begin on the Interactive and Animation Contracts and it is vital that you attend.

August 29, 2008

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member:

As Labor Day approaches, please take a moment to consider the extraordinary contributions of the founders of our Guild who, 75 years ago, put courage and conviction to the test in creating this union. Standing up to studios has never been easy. For our founders in 1933, it was really tough, but strength, unity and commitment to the goal won out and Screen Actors Guild was incorporated June 30, 1933.

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

Your negotiators are working every day to successfully conclude negotiations for a successor agreement to our TV/Theatrical contract. We have not yet closed the gap with the employers’ negotiators, but National President Alan Rosenberg, the National Negotiating Committee co-chairs from the Regional Branch Division, New York and Hollywood and I remain focused on this effort.

The Guild has received checks for the following members which were either dishonored by the bank or which were never deposited due to the filing of bankruptcy by Axium. As a result, all members on this list (click here to view list) should file a Proof of Claim by following the instructions provided in the member alert section of this website. Even if a member name does not appear on this list, they should still read the Axium information in the member alerts section to determine if they should file a Proof of Claim.

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member:

SAG TALK IS HERE!

We’ve launched a new zone on the SAG website -- It’s called SAG Talk and it’s where you will find interesting and topical news and information for SAG members.

Please take a moment and visit SAG Talk at http://www.sag.org/sag-talk to read the following posts:

1. Our response to the AMPTP’s recent statement. Our response is up first, but if you want to read the AMPTP’s statement just scroll down a bit.

This list is comprised of Guild-signatory producers who have either 1) been found by a neutral arbitrator or court to have violated one or more of the Guild contracts; or 2) have defaulted on payments to performers during production and have had production halted pending full payment.

SAG and AFTRA Announce Member Caucuses

The 2005-2008 Screen Actors Guild Codified Industrial and Educational Contract and the AFTRA 2005 – 2008 National Code of Fair Practice for Non-Broadcast Industrial/Educational Recorded Material expire on April 30, 2008.

All SAG and AFTRA members who work under these Contracts are invited to attend these caucuses. Open to all paid-up members and participation will be limited due to fire rules. Come early and bring your membership card.

Dear Screen Actors Guild members,

You will hear many things over the next few days about AFTRA’s decision to effectively terminate our Phase One joint bargaining relationship. We have been jointly bargaining several contracts with AFTRA since 1981 and the AFTRA board voted yesterday to end that relationship (under the Phase One Agreement) and forge ahead without SAG.

AFTRA HAS THREE TELEVISION SHOWS UNDER THIS CONTRACT AND THEY DON’T COVER MOTION PICTURES.

As your President, I feel it is important that you have the facts.

Postponed — Member Town Hall Meetings — Postponed

Town Hall Meetings scheduled for April 29 in Los Angeles and April 30 in New York City are postponed.

Dear Members,

Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television
Producers agreed to extend their bargaining session for one week. Your
Guild negotiators will continue negotiations with the AMPTP through May
2.

July 28, 2008

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors met Saturday and passed a resolution reaffirming its support for the National Negotiating Committee.

The resolution passed unanimously with a vote of 68 – 0 and states:
It is a core principle of Screen Actors Guild --

That no non-union work shall be authorized to be done under any Screen Actors Guild agreement and;

In June, a casting call for James Dean and Marilyn Monroe look-alikes went out for a Mercedes, Japan, commercial. During this process, the casting director was actively searching for a signatory to represent this foreign advertiser and enable this production to utilize professional performers under a SAG contract.

If you received payroll checks through Axium that were not honored when Axium filed for Bankruptcy in January, 2008, and if you have not otherwise been paid in full for any such amounts owed by your signatory producer that used Axium as its payroll house, then you should file a Proof of Claim with the Bankruptcy Court. All such Proofs of Claim must be received by August 15, 2008; failure to file a timely proof of claim will prevent you from recovering any money from the bankruptcy process.

To all SAG members:

Thank you, SAG members! Thousands of you have signed the “Solidarity Statement” over the past four days. In fact, we are working hard to keep up with the overwhelming response and adding your names as fast as we can.

You have pledged your resolve to stand with your national negotiating committee. Thousands of you from all around the country are telling us you voted NO on the AFTRA contract and support our goal to raise the bar for all actors and their families.

Dear Member:

The Screen Actors Guild National Executive Committee voted to authorize Screen Actors Guild to undertake a campaign to encourage SAG members who are dual card holders to vote NO on the ballot for the AFTRA Prime Time Television tentative agreement.

I want you to know why, as SAG’s Chief Negotiator, I strongly endorse our campaign for a NO vote.

First, a NO vote does not mean a strike.

Dear SAG Members,

By now you have heard that AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers (AMPTP) recently reached a tentative contract for the six current AFTRA-covered programs on network primetime and Pay TV (AFTRA does not cover motion pictures, so their deal is not for movies). AFTRA made this deal separately from SAG and by doing so AFTRA established a template that management is attempting to force SAG to accept.

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) posted a message to their member companies today on the AMPTP website. We felt it was important that we directly communicate our continued dedication to the negotiations process.

Screen Actors Guild remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with the AMPTP. To that end, we are prepared to bargain continuously, for as long as it takes.

A Message to Screen Actors Guild Members Regarding TV/Theatrical Contract Negotiations

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) posted a message to their member companies today on the AMPTP website. We felt it was important that we directly communicate our continued dedication to the negotiations process.

Screen Actors Guild remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with the AMPTP. To that end, we are prepared to bargain continuously, for as long as it takes.

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

On Tuesday, April 15 we begin negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (“AMPTP”) for our Television and Theatrical contracts. These agreements represent over 1 billion dollars in annual earnings and cover all SAG television and theatrical motion pictures.

The 2005-2008 Screen Actors Guild Codified Industrial and Educational Contract and the AFTRA 2005 – 2008 National Code of Fair Practice for Non-Broadcast Industrial/Educational Recorded Material expire on April 30, 2008.

All SAG and AFTRA members who work under these Contracts are invited to attend these caucuses. Open to all paid-up members and participation will be limited due to fire rules. Come early and bring your membership card.

Dear Screen Actors Guild members,

You will hear many things over the next few days about AFTRA’s decision to effectively terminate our Phase One joint bargaining relationship. We have been jointly bargaining several contracts with AFTRA since 1981 and the AFTRA board voted yesterday to end that relationship (under the Phase One Agreement) and forge ahead without SAG.

AFTRA HAS THREE TELEVISION SHOWS UNDER THIS CONTRACT AND THEY DON’T COVER MOTION PICTURES.

As your President, I feel it is important that you have the facts.

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member:

The following statement regarding AFTRA’s effective termination of Phase One was distributed today. Further details regarding this matter will be communicated to you in the coming days.

Alan Rosenberg, President

Doug Allen, National Executive Director

March 29, 2008

SAG Responds to AFTRA's Termination of Phase One Agreement

This list is comprised of Guild-signatory producers who have either 1) been found by a neutral arbitrator or court to have violated one or more of the Guild contracts; or 2) have defaulted on payments to performers during production and have had production halted pending full payment.

The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors releases the following document in the interest of greater transparency. The information included in "The Current State and Outlook of the Advertising Business" was a valuable resource for the Commercials Negotiating Committee in 2006.

The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors releases the following document in the interest of greater transparency. The information included in "The Current State and Outlook of the Advertising Business" was a valuable resource for the Commercials Negotiating Committee in 2006.

Click here to download the payroll contact list to request your W-2 or 1099 form.

Dear Screen Actors Guild members,

Writers Guild of America, West President Patric Verrone asked that I forward you the following letter.

In solidarity,
Alan Rosenberg

To the Members of the Screen Actors Guild,

As you undoubtedly know, our 100 day strike is over and the WGA has a contract that covers new media. On behalf of the 12,000 members of the WGA West and East, I want to thank the Screen Actors Guild leadership, membership, and staff for your tremendous involvement and support.

Dear Screen Actors Guild members,

Writers Guild of America, West President Patric Verrone asked that I forward you the following letter.

In solidarity,
Alan Rosenberg

To the Members of the Screen Actors Guild,

As you undoubtedly know, our 100 day strike is over and the WGA has a contract that covers new media. On behalf of the 12,000 members of the WGA West and East, I want to thank the Screen Actors Guild leadership, membership, and staff for your tremendous involvement and support.

A telephone number is now available for those with W-2 issues related to the bankruptcy filing by payroll house Axium. The number is (213) 626-2311 to reach trustees who are handling the case.

A telephone number is now available for those with W-2 issues related to the bankruptcy filing by payroll house Axium. The number is (213) 626-2311 to reach trustees who are handling the case.

January 29, 2008

Dear SAG Member:

Everyone hopes the WGA strike will end with a fair deal for the writers. There has been much speculation about the impact on the WGA strike of the tentative agreement between the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the employers' representative, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Some have rushed to anoint their deal as the “solution” for the entertainment industry. We believe that assessment is premature.

January 29, 2008

Dear SAG Member:

Everyone hopes the WGA strike will end with a fair deal for the writers. There has been much speculation about the impact on the WGA strike of the tentative agreement between the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the employers' representative, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Some have rushed to anoint their deal as the “solution” for the entertainment industry. We believe that assessment is premature.

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member:

It has come to Screen Actors Guild's attention that as recently as today some individuals have successfully cashed payroll checks issued by Axium or one of its 43 subsidiary companies. We are bringing this to your attention to assist you in assessing whether to take the time to attempt to cash such checks in person.

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member:

It has come to Screen Actors Guild's attention that as recently as today some individuals have successfully cashed payroll checks issued by Axium or one of its 43 subsidiary companies. We are bringing this to your attention to assist you in assessing whether to take the time to attempt to cash such checks in person.

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member:

As you may have heard, Axium International, a major entertainment industry payroll house unexpectedly ceased operations yesterday and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Your legal and contracts staff and our outside counsel immediately took steps to investigate the situation and to protect your interests to the maximum degree possible.

This situation is very fluid and we are still gathering critical information. Nonetheless, we wanted to immediately advise you of the following:

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member:

As you may have heard, Axium International, a major entertainment industry payroll house unexpectedly ceased operations yesterday and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Your legal and contracts staff and our outside counsel immediately took steps to investigate the situation and to protect your interests to the maximum degree possible.

This situation is very fluid and we are still gathering critical information. Nonetheless, we wanted to immediately advise you of the following:

Los Angeles (September 20, 2007) --- Screen Actors Guild members are hereby advised that American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) does NOT have a contract for TMZ, a broadcast syndication “infotainment” TV series produced by TMZ Productions, Inc., A.K.A. Harvey Levin Productions, Inc. and hosted by Harvey Levin.

The producer of TMZ has, to date, refused to sign a union agreement. In addition, AFTRA recently learned that promotional announcements for this program, which were originally produced under an AFTRA agreement, are now being produced non-union.

On September 4, 2007, Screen Actors Guild joined film industry unions, small businesses and the Film & Television Action Committee (FTAC) to file a petition under Section 301(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The petition argues that Canadian film subsidies violate trade law, and that American entertainment industry workers have been significantly harmed by incentives designed to lure media production from the United States to Canada.

Los Angeles (September 20, 2007) ---
Screen Actors Guild members are hereby advised that American Federation of
Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) does NOT have a contract for TMZ, a
broadcast syndication “infotainment” TV series produced by TMZ Productions,
Inc., A.K.A. Harvey Levin Productions, Inc. and hosted by Harvey Levin.

On September 4, 2007, Screen Actors Guild joined film industry unions, small businesses and the Film & Television Action Committee (FTAC) to file a petition under Section 301(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The petition argues that Canadian film subsidies violate trade law, and that American entertainment industry workers have been significantly harmed by incentives designed to lure media production from the United States to Canada.