SAG-AFTRA’s lobbying efforts helped conclude exclusivity deals with Netflix and AMPTP

A combination of tough negotiations and legislative lobbying contributed to significant gains in two new SAG-AFTRA deals reached earlier this month that include exclusivity. Over time, union leaders said in a podcast released Thursday.

Earlier this week, the union reached an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on new exclusivity provisions and SAG-AFTRA’s national board will meet on Saturday to approve it. The guild also reached a tentative deal with Netflix earlier this month that includes new exclusivity terms, and members are now voting to ratify it.

However, SAG-AFTRA leaders say their pressure for a near-milestone bill in the California legislature is what ultimately prompted companies to move the issue. The union-sponsored bill, AB 437, called Let Actors Work (LAW), would drastically limit exclusivity in agreements between television actors.

“The point is that our legislative work has given us the power we needed to implement much of what has been done in these options and exclusivity negotiations,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. during a guild podcast. On the new Netflix deal. “And sometimes I hear members asking me, ‘Why do we lobby?’ Why do we have a legislative program? How should we do it as a union? ‘ And I think it’s a great example. Here, our legislative work coincides directly with our contractual negotiations. They address the basic conditions under which our members work as artists in this industry. “

Speaking on a podcast about the new deal with Netflix, Ray Rodriquez, the union’s director of hiring, agreed that those negotiations received a big boost from the pending legislation.

“The changes that we have achieved in the area of ​​options and exclusivity, we are trying to make these improvements for more than 10 years in collective bargaining,” he said. “We made an extraordinary effort; We met with the network presidents and CEOs of the studios. We brought the delegations of the members to talk to us about the seriousness of this problem, the urgency of addressing this problem … The normal process of negotiating these contracts was not enough to accomplish what we had to do in the area of ​​options and exclusivity, and this is really what this legislative initiative has given us. Extra leverage and such a visible difference made us.

“The way companies responded to this problem before this legislation was implemented was a difference at night or during the day compared to how they responded to us when there were no pending laws … and so the timing was perfect for us. to take advantage of it “. The fact that we had this pending legislation as additional leverage to get the changes we need in this area, but the deal (Netflix) also expired and it was time to renegotiate the deal we signed for the first time with Netflix in 2019.

“I just want to reiterate the legislative component of this,” added Ben Whiteher, executive vice president of SAG-AFTRA. “For me as a member, this is another example of how SAG-AFTRA is fighting on behalf of its members. We think about negotiation and contract enforcement, but this is a powerful reminder to see how the legislative work also done by the union is another area that can generate profit or influence for our members. So I just want to point that out because it really helps develop, you know, when people say, “What exactly does SAG-AFTRA do?” – that these are some of the most basic functions: we negotiate contracts with employers; We are working to get better conditions for our members; We will fight to make sure everything is done and we will go out and legislate if necessary. “

SAG-AFTRA spent $ 1,097,586 on “political activities and lobbying” in support of legislation that its members benefited from during the last fiscal year, according to its most recent financial disclosure report filed with the US Department of Labor. United States. , the Guild does not endorse or promote political candidates.

According to SAG-AFTRA, major changes to options and exclusivity rules that allow series regulars to work on other shows when they’re not working on their Netflix series include:
• Options and exclusivity money increases from $ 40,000 per episode / week to $ 65,000 per episode / week for half-hour shows and $ 70,000 per episode / week for one-hour shows. This means that many more regulars of the series will be protected by collective agreement options and exclusivity conditions that give them more freedom to operate.
• The actor is granted the right to be a regular second place in another series or a starring second place in a miniseries each calendar year, as well as unlimited guest appearances and unlimited recurring guest star roles for up to six episodes . during the season of the series.
• Netflix can no longer refuse to allow a regular series to appear in another show because that show is available for a pay TV streaming service or linear channel that has the right to air the show for 30 days.
• Netflix can no longer refuse a regular series to appear on another show because another regular series appeared in the same season as that series.
• Netflix must provide a “conflict-free window” of at least three months (and, if possible, longer) after the main shoot of each season during which series regulars can spend time on another show without having to confirm the availability or schedule. Netflix
• Optional training periods have decreased and the ability to extend them has also decreased and become more expensive, meaning owners of regular series will know much sooner if Netflix will use them for another season of the series.
• For the first time in any contract, there is now a deadline to start regular series services for the next season of the series and / or to start paying for such services: three months after exercising the option, with a – extension option for another two non-refundable months in exchange for next season’s episodic rate.

Other developments in Netflix’s new deal, which was overwhelmingly approved by the national industry council, include a first background coverage zone in Albuquerque, New Mexico, covering all of the substitutes and top 10 background actors; Residue for stunt coordinators for continuing to show their high-budget streaming shows on Netflix, using the artist of the day minimum as the basis for the remaining calculation and setting June as the new contract vacation.

As part of the deal, Netflix will also become a member of AMPTP, a trading party of major companies. And while the deal with Netflix will survive Netflix’s accession to the AMPTP, future negotiations with Netflix will happen at the same time as the AMPTP negotiations.

Voting for subscription to the new Netflix agreement, already underway, ends on August 31st.