What every working performer NEEDS TO know ABOUT THE
2008 AFTRA PRIMETIME TELEVISION CONTRACT

GET THE REAL FACTS. Don’t be fooled by SPIN.

The new primetime television contract hammered out by the AFTRA Primetime Negotiating Committee is not only a good deal–it is one of the best deals that anyone will get this year. That’s why the 31 working actors, singers, dancers, and stunt people who served on the committee unanimously recommend that you VOTE YES TO RATIFY the 2008 AFTRA Primetime Television Contract (Exhibit A).
                                                                  
It’s easy for the Screen Actors Guild to claim that our deal isn’t good enough and that it can do better. But does anyone–including SAG’s Hollywood leadership–have any idea of exactly how SAG intends to get more from the studios than the Writers Guild, the Directors Guild, and AFTRA have all already achieved? The fact is that actions speak louder than words. Don’t be fooled by the spin.

Spin: SAG will be able to negotiate a better deal if you reject the AFTRA contract.
FACT: If the AFTRA contract isn’t ratified, the result will be Industry chaos–and the likelihood that performers will be out of work for months.
The ruling leadership of SAG clearly has no strategy–unless you call bashing AFTRA and trying to push us all over a cliff a strategy. This is a time for tough-minded realism, not posturing and empty rhetoric. AFTRA, like the WGA and DGA before it, has negotiated a solid agreement that delivers substantial improvements in wages and working conditions for all members. We’ve done this in the midst of a challenging economic climate, at a moment of rapid and unsettling technological change, in an industry that is still recovering from the economic devastation of a 100-day strike.

Let’s be real. If you vote against ratifying our union’s deal, you are voting for another strike. Your negotiating committee has already bargained smart and hard to extract the good deal that’s already on the table; don’t expect employers to offer more just because you “ask.” The “No” vote SAG Hollywood is trying to foment on the Exhibit A contract is a strike vote for the kind of Industry chaos that has already shut down the movie industry and would paralyze television. Don’t be fooled by the spin.
                                                                   
Don’t underestimate what’s at stake here. If your agreement is not ratified, the employers can and probably will take back many of the gains you’ve already won. These include:

• Substantial wage hikes for ALL categories
• Outsized increases for Major Role performers, CW series regulars, and singers
• Raises for Schedule B & C performers, higher 3-day players’ overtime money break
• Better working conditions for dancers
• Guaranteed jurisdiction and new residuals in New Media
• Preservation of performer clip consent
• Increases in Health & Retirement contributions

Stand up for yourself and your fellow performers―VOTE YES for the AFTRA contract.

AFTRA Members are encouraged to carefully review the ratification material, contact their Local office for any questions, attend informational meetings that may be scheduled in their area, and make an informed decision to ratify the 2008-2011 Exhibit A Contract. Visit www.aftra.com for more information.