[NEohioPAL] AFTRA MEMBERS RATIFY PRIMETIME TELEVISION CONTRACT

[DALE SHIELDS]

Great news, great letter from President Reardon, great work to come!




-----Original Message-----

From: "AFTRA Notification Service" [notice at aftra.com]

Date: 07/08/2008 10:34 PM

To: "EVERYONE" 

Subject: Fwd: AFTRA MEMBERS RATIFY PRIMETIME TELEVISION CONTRACT







             AFTRA MEMBERS RATIFY PRIMETIME TELEVISION CONTRACT                  AFTRA Leadership to Focus on Unity Initiatives Moving Forward        LOS ANGELES (July 8, 2008)
– The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
announced today that AFTRA members ratified a new three-year primetime
television agreement (Exhibit A of the AFTRA Network Television Code)
reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
(AMPTP) by a 62.4% margin. 

          
 AFTRA—the nation’s
second largest performers’ union—represents more than 70,000 actors,
recording artists, broadcasters, and other talent working in the
entertainment and media industries.

          

            AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon made the following statement:

          

“Today’s vote reflects the ability of AFTRA members to recognize a
solid contract when they see it. Despite an unprecedented
disinformation campaign aimed at interfering with our ratification
process, a majority of members ultimately focused on what mattered—the
obvious merits of a labor agreement that contains substantial gains for
every category of performer in both traditional and new media.

          

“Clearly, this was not a typical ratification process, and it would be
disingenuous to pretend otherwise. To those of us for whom labor
solidarity is more than just a slogan, the idea that
politically-motivated leaders of one union would use their members’
dues to attack another union is unconscionable. Working people do not
benefit when their union is under attack.

          

“For the sake of our members, organized labor must be united,
especially in a world of ever-increasing corporate consolidation. Given
this, AFTRA leadership is eager to focus on several important
initiatives in the months to come:                  1)
Building on the suggestion of our valued supporters, we will seek to
organize a summit of top actors, performers, and union leaders to
engage in a thoughtful, constructive discussion of how we can achieve
unity among performers—and ultimately, if feasible, merger of the
performers’ unions.           2) Given that
working men and women accomplish more when we work together with trust
and mutual respect, we will ask the leadership of the AFL-CIO AEMI ICC
unions, the DGA, WGA, and others in the labor community to come
together well in advance of the next round of contract negotiations to
explore ways of maximizing the leverage of entertainment industry
workers.          3) Finally, I intend to
promptly review with our National elected leadership and the Presidents
of all AFTRA Locals the conditions needed to restore trust to
re-establish joint bargaining on our respective commercials contracts.                        “I
sincerely appreciate the committed work of the negotiating committee,
elected leaders, the labor community, and individual activist members
of AFTRA who worked tirelessly and publicly to secure this solid
contract for television industry performers. I am especially grateful
for the support of many joint members of SAG and AFTRA—such as those in
Chicago, Florida, Houston, Nashville, New York, Portland, San
Francisco, and Seattle—who displayed courage in the face of potential
retribution, by taking a stand against disunity with the power of truth
and solidarity.” 

          
 Negotiations with the AMPTP over
the AFTRA Primetime TV contract began on May 7. They concluded on May
28 with a tentative agreement that was unanimously recommended for
approval by AFTRA’s 31-member negotiating committee. The AFTRA National
Board of Directors overwhelmingly approved the primetime television
contract on June 7 and recommended the deal to members, which was
ratified today. The new contract is effective from July 1, 2008,
through June 30, 2011.        AFTRA contracts cover more than 70% of the programming hours on major network television.         AFTRA
primetime TV dramas and situation comedies include “Rules of
Engagement,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Flight of the Conchords,”
“Dante’s Cove,” “Til Death,” “Reaper,” “Project Gary,” “Harper’s
Island,” “Roman’s Empire,” and the new “90210.”

          
 The
AFTRA Network Code, which was ratified by AFTRA members on April 30,
also covers actors and all on-camera and off-camera talent on all forms
of television programming: reality shows, syndicated dramas, daytime
serials, game shows, talk shows, variety and musical programs, news,
sports, and promotional announcements. Programs covered by the Code
include “American Idol,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Late Show with
David Letterman,” “Good Morning America,” “20/20,” “The View,” “The
Tonight Show,” “Oprah,” “The Price is Right,” “Deal or No Deal,”
“America’s Next Top Model,” “Days of Our Lives,” “All My Children,”
“Cake,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Entertainment Tonight,” and “Survivor,”
among others. 

          

            About AFTRA

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO, is a
national labor union of over 70,000 actors, singers and recording
artists, dancers, announcers and other broadcast talent performers,
journalists, and other artists working in the entertainment and news
media. With more than 30 local chapters across the country, AFTRA
promotes the success and welfare of members in a variety of ways,
including contract negotiation and enforcement, advocating on
legislative and public policy issues, supporting equal employment
opportunities, and sponsoring or supporting health and retirement
benefits and programs. For more information, visit www.aftra.com.        

                                       Los Angeles 

        5757 Wilshire Boulevard 

        9th Floor 

        Los Angeles, CA 90036 

        323.634.8100             New York 

260 Madison Avenue 

7th Floor 

New York, NY 10016 

212.532.0800             

          www.aftra.com                   












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