SAG-AFTRA Receives 2020 Contract Demands from Majority Membership: Union Background Artists

Well done! 👏👏👏

SAG-AFTRA Background Artists - of all ages - add great value to film & television scenes & deserve to be paid a fair wage

THANK YOU TO ALL who have emailed the Background Artists Coalition's (BAC) 2020 Contract Demands to The Screen Actors Guild! 

We are thrilled to report that, to date, SAG-AFTRA HAS RECEIVED MANY ENDORSEMENTS OF BAC's DEMANDS FOR THE 2020 SAG-AFTRA CONTRACT! Woo-hoo! So let's keep up the momentum! Let the Naysayers say nay; Background Artists shall prevail!

But SAG needs to hear from EVERYBODY! So, if you have not yet had an opportunity to send your message to SAG, please simply cut & paste the message below & email it to stephanie.perry@sagaftra.org - as per her request - TODAY!

Let your voice be heard! Let our Union know that as the Majority Membership, Background Artists' Demands MUST be included in the 2020 SAG-AFTRA Contract Negotiations!

And remember, one doesn't have to work Background in order to send the message; all you need is a SAG#!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU ONE AND ALL! Brava! Bravo! Onward!!! 🙏🙏🙏

Please Cut & Paste & Email the following Message to stephanie.perry@sagaftra.org - adding your name & SAG# at the bottom - and please be sure to ask ALL your SAG-AFTRA Member Friends to do the same:

To: stephanie.perry@sagaftra.org

Subject: SAG-AFTRA 2020 Contract

Dear Ms. Perry,

As SAG-AFTRA Background Artists have labored under a deficient hourly wage for far too long, and because our Union failed to even ask for a specific raise for Background Artists during the 2017 Contract Negotiations despite having promised in writing to do so, and because the current Union Background Wage is Five Dollars and Thirty cents ($5.30) an hour BELOW the AVERAGE National 2019 Hourly Wage and Fourteen Dollars ($14) an hour below the Average Hourly Wage in the film & television industry in NYC, we herein demand the following terms and conditions for Union Background Artists in the 2020 SAG-AFTRA Contract:

1.) $35 per hour for all Union Background Actors across all media; 2.) 40% Increase in the Minimum Number of Union Background Roles Required for all production contracts across all media; 3.) Cancellation of any and all SAG-AFTRA Predatory Contracts allowing Union Background Artists to be paid Minimum Wage and, in some SAG-AFTRA contracts, NOTHING AT ALL and 4.) For the Screen Actors Guild to call a STRIKE VOTE prior to the formal Contract Negotiations for the 2020 SAG-AFTRA Contract, so that when SAG-AFTRA's Lead Negotiators, David White, esq. and Ray Rodriguez, esq., go to the bargaining table this time around, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) will know that our Union is serious, will know that our Union has our backs and will know that our Union will not accept anything less than what we demand or the Screen Actors Guild will shut down all Union film & television productions.

Sincerely,

NAME

SAG-AFTRA Membership #