American Federation of Radio and Television Artists approves new contract on terms set by media conglomerates

The three-year contract was approved by only 62.4 percent of those voting, despite the unanimous backing of the AFTRA leadership and a strenuous campaign waged by the union, and the media. This less-than-enthusiastic endorsement signals that a broad layer of members is clearly dissatisfied with the terms of the agreement; at the same time, there is little confidence that the AFTRA leadership or any other section of the Hollywood labor officialdom could lead a successful strike.

In essence, the AFTRA bureaucracy caved in to managements demands and accepted a contract, like those negotiated by the Writers and Directors Guilds earlier this year, that in return for a small wage increase, accepts the AMPTP demands on DVD compensation and New Media pay and residuals.

The agreement, while providing a 3.5 percent increase in minimum compensation plans (less than the current inflation rate) and a 1.5 percent increase in health and retirement fund contributions, does not offer any increases in DVD residual payments, nor does it prevent new clauses in the AFTRA contract (the same clauses which may also appear in the Screen Actors Guild contract), which essentially force actors to advertise products and services within the course of a given television show or film broadcast over the Internet, without any compensation.

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