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Happy New Year from AFTRA President Roberta Reardon 2008 was a seminal year in our union’s history. It was a year that saw both unprecedented progress and previously unimagined challenges. It was a year that forced AFTRA members to unite and confront pressures unlike any faced by previous generations of AFTRAns. Yet it was also a year that heightened AFTRA members' – and the entertainment and media industries’ – knowledge that unions are even more relevant and significant at this time when our nation faces both economic turmoil and unfulfilled promise. Click to read more.
AFTRA Members Help Pass Pension Relief for American Workers Thank you to the many AFTRA members who joined with union workers and other Americans to urge Congress to protect more than 10 million U.S. workers who depend on multiemployer defined benefit plans, by sending more than 3,200 letters to members of Congress. Click here to read more.
Roberta Reardon Named Among Entertainment Industry's Most Powerful Women AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon was recognized in a special issue of The Hollywood Reporter -- Women in Entertainment: The Power 100 list, which hightlights the most powerful women in the television and film industries. Click here to read more.
Member Guide to the AFTRA Television Contract Now Available As a service to members, AFTRA has compiled a Member Guide to the AFTRA Television Contract. This Guide, which members can get from their AFTRA Local or by free download from the AFTRA website, provides basic information about TV rates and working conditions—including the significant gains AFTRA members achieved in negotiations for terms covering both primetime and non-prime time television (The AFTRA Network TV Code and Exhibit A of the Code) that were ratified earlier this year. Click here to read more.
AFTRA Congratulates IATSE on Tentative Agreement
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the nation’s second largest performers union, issued a statement by President Roberta Reardon regarding the announcement that the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have tentatively agreed today to terms for a new three-year IATSE contract. Click here to read President Reardon's statement. AFTRA Members and Videogame Employers Agree on Terms for Extending the AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the nation’s second largest performers union, announced today that it has reached an agreement with videogame employers on terms for a one-year extension to the AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement, the union’s collective bargaining agreement covering performers working in videogames. Click here to read the press release.
AFTRA National Board of Directors Approves Conditions that would Permit Joint Bargaining with SAG on Commercials Contracts Meeting by videoconference between New York and Los Angeles, the National Board of Directors of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artistsapproved a proposed agreement outlining conditions to permit joint bargaining with SAG on the Commercials Contracts under the terms of the Phase One agreement. Click here to read the press release.
AFTRA-AEA Letter from Presidents Reardon and Zimmerman Professional performers work in all media. Only you can protect your interests, and preserve the fair and decent working conditions that you, as a professional, deserve. Click here to discover how you can stand with your fellow union members>>
Help The Actors Fund Help the Community The lingering effects of the writers' strike are very severe. As of April 2, The Actors Fund had provided more than $1million in direct financial assistance to more than 600 people in Southern California impacted by the strike, and The Fund is still handling many new applications. To help The Fund keep up with the demands of the strike and their many other critical and essential human services programs, AFTRA members are encouraged to give a gift to The Actors Fund by going online to donate at www.actorsfundsupport.org/aftra/ or calling The Fund at 800.221.7303.
AFTRA Receives AFL-CIO Charter!
AFTRA announced that at its national board meeting Saturday, February 2, members received a major boost of confidence from the AFL-CIO, as the nation's largest labor federation issued a direct charter Friday to the national labor union of more 70,000 performers, journalists, broadcasters, recording artists, and other talent working in the entertainment and news media.
Watch the announcement that AFTRA receives a direct charter from AFL-CIO president John Sweeney.
Tell Your Legislators to Support the Performance Rights Act Join with AFTRA recording artists, singers, broadcasters, and performers in supporting legislation to assure that recording artists receive compensation when their performances are played on over-the-air radio.Click here to send a message >>
AFTRA Channel on YouTube AFTRA members now have a channel at YouTube where you can share and watch video. The first piece on the channel is a clip from the documentary AFTRA: Commitment to Action and features a couple dozen members whose voices come together to say "I am AFTRA." Also, you'll find a link to a new video produced by AFTRA New York members to promote the AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement. Join AFTRA on YouTube at www.youtube.com/AFTRAnetwork
Producers: Make Your New Media Projects a Hit with AFTRA Talent As part of the ongoing effort to make sure that your work in the new digital media is covered under an AFTRA contract, an outreach campaign to new media producers is underway. AFTRA.com now features a special landing page for producers that highlights recent productions covered by an AFTRA contract, including videogame Halo 3, internet comedy series Park Bench, and podcast The Creature. See how AFTRA is encouraging producers to engage AFTRA members in new media content here>>
NO CONTRACT, NO WORK Order in Effect for 'TMZ' Effective September 20, 2007, members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are advised that TMZ Productions Inc., Harvey Levin Productions Inc., and paraMedia inc.-producers of the syndicated TV series "TMZ"-are not signed to an AFTRA contract covering this program. AFTRA members may NOT accept employment, including recording in-show and/or promotional announcements, on "TMZ" until and unless a fair contract between AFTRA and the producers is achieved. If you are contacted for employment on "TMZ", please contact Joan Halpern Weise, Assistant National Executive Director, at 323.634.8174 (jweise@aftra.com) or David Besbris, Los Angeles Local Director of Television, 323.634.8116 (dbesbris@aftra.com). All calls are confidential.
Safety Resources for Journalists: A brief compendium of some of the practical safety resources, including links to other organizations. Click here for the print and html versions>>
The Evolving Landscape of Basic Cable Click here AFTRA members are working together to expand union jobs in cable TV for performers working in the U.S.
