SAG-AFTRA and the Joint Policy Committee, which bargains on behalf of advertisers and advertising agencies, have reached a tentative agreement on successors to their commercials contracts.
Both the performers’ union and the Joint Policy Committee announced the deal, covering television and audio commercials contracts, on Tuesday night. The two parties have been operating on a day-by-day extension since late May, when the contracts were initially set to expire.
The tentative agreement will now go to the SAG-AFTRA National Board for approval; the Board is set to meet April 9. Both parties are not releasing details of the agreement until that meeting takes place. Reed Smith partner Stacy Marcus led negotiations on behalf of the Joint Policy Committee.
Negotiations began on Feb. 16 in New York, after SAG-AFTRA’s National Board approved its commercials negotiations proposal package in early February.
The union’s last commercial contracts deal was popular amongst voting members, with 96.85 percent voting “yes” on the agreement (turnout wasn’t disclosed). That deal saw wage raises for members performing all kinds of work, the addition of coverage for stunt coordinators and measures for workplace sexual harassment, among other changes.
