Tuesday, April 3, 2012

SAG-AFTRA Merger





By now, you may have already heard that the Screen Actors Guild (“SAG”) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (“AFTRA”) and (hereinafter, “SAG-AFTRA”) have successfully merged.  The merger takes immediate effect at midnight on March 30, 2012.

We would like to thank all of our agents for their support and patience throughout this long and challenging process.  The Agency staff of SAG-AFTRA will now begin the important and necessary work of completely integrating the existing AFTRA and SAG agency departments, under the guidance and direction of the newly formed SAG-AFTRA National Board.

While we undertake these efforts, we wanted to make clear our commitment to provide continuous and uninterrupted service to your agencies.  We pledge to do our best to ensure that your dedicated representation of our members remains as fully supported as possible by SAG-AFTRA.

During this interim phase, while transitions begin to take shape, we wanted to reiterate that your existing relationships with the prior Unions, SAG and AFTRA, will remain as they were immediately prior to the merger vote. License/bonding requirements, administrative paperwork, waivers, areas of jurisdiction with respect to the representation of SAG-AFTRA members, etc., will all remain the same for the time being. 

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.  We look forward to working with all of you in this exciting time of opportunity and growth for SAG-AFTRA members, but for your agencies, as well.   As always, please do not hesitate to contact anyone on this list if you have outstanding issues or if we can be of service at any time.  Thank you!