Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546062
ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS Substantial gains toward parity between the East and West Coast background zones. Dignity, compensation and safety gains for background actors that affect the daily experience of work, including long-sought-after wins for the compensation of corsets, for extraordinary hair and makeup requests, and for double-duty for stand-ins. Establishment of a parental leave fund. Choreographers are now covered under this agreement. Elimination of the Group 9+ rate for dancers, making the Group 3+ rate the lowest rate applicable to dancers. A flexible package deal for singers with scalable session structures that lower upfront production costs while protecting artist residuals. Stunt performers share in all principal performer gains and achieve additional stunt-specific improvements, including gains for stunt coordinators and new money and schedule breaks for stunt performers under the multiple picture contract. Producers will now display the SAG-AFTRA logo in the end credits. It's a mark of respect and distinction. Since the merger of SAG and AFTRA in 2012, merging the two retirement plans has been a goal of SAG-AFTRA and its membership. Unfortunately, the laws and economics governing pensions created obstacles that made combining the two pension plans significantly more difficult than merging the two union's health plans. With the bargaining parties now aligned on benefits and funding, those challenges have been significantly reduced, putting this longstanding goal within reach for the Jan. 1, 2028, target date. "Reaching this agreement is an important milestone that will end the split-earnings problem and bring a pension within reach for hundreds more SAG-AFTRA members every year, all while strengthening retirement security for current and future members and protecting the benefits members have already earned," said National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. According to Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez, achieving this merger was "a rare and valuable opportunity" made possible by "a strategic opportunity" that arose when the studios and streamers' new negotiating team expressed an interest in a longer contract term. What should you expect? • A larger, more diversified and more robust plan that can better protect its long-term financial position and, by extension, members' benefits. • SAG-Producers Pension Plan participants may see their benefits increase, while AFTRA Retirement Fund participants will see their accrual rate more than double for future accruals after merger of the plans. • No vested accrued benefit in either plan will be reduced as a result of this merger. • The Alternative Days Threshold, the number of days worked to qualify for a SAG-AFTRA Pension Plan credit in lieu of meeting the earnings threshold, will remain in place at its current level of 70 days. Other important details Upon merger, SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP agreed to increase the maximum pension available under the SAG-Producers Pension Plan by 12.5% to match the maximum benefit under the AFTRA Retirement Fund. This means that for performers with 35 or more pension credits, the maximum SAG-Producers Pension Plan benefit increases from $8,000 per month ($96,000 per year) to $9,000 per month ($108,000 per year). For more information on the specifics of the merger, visit the Pension Merger FAQs at sagaftra.org/contracts2026. sagaftra.org | Summer 2026 | SAG-AFTRA 45 GETTY IMAGES A Path to Merging the Plans What the Pension Plan Merger Means for You