Los Angeles - The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA), one of Hollywood's large performers' unions, on Wednesday announced that it has reached a tentative new three-year labor agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The deal, which must still be approved by AFTRA members, will increase pay to performers and guarantee compensation for appearances in video content that consumers pay to stream and download online -- an issue that had been a sticking point in negotiations.

It also maintains a stipulation that actors' consent must be attained before the non-promotional use of their performances in new media.

"We recognized the hard realities currently affecting the traditional TV business and we focused on creating a framework that would allow union members to participate fully in the emerging new media marketplace," said AFTRA national president Roberta Reardon.

The two parties said the agreement is modeled on the deal struck between AMPTP and the Writers Guild in February that ended a 100-day strike.

It comes as the Screen Actors Guild resumes its own contract negotiations with AMPTP today; that contract expires on June 30.

Related Links:
http://aftra.com/press/2008_05_28_pt_agreement.html