Union Contract Negotiations

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has ratified a new three-year agreement that was negotiated just before the pandemic. A few of its highlights...

DGA CONTRACT BULLET POINTS

* Wage and residual base increases of 2.5% in first year of contract; 3% in the second and third years.

* A nearly 50% increase in residuals for members working on original SVOD series.

* Employer contribution rate to the Pension Plan will permanently increase by 1% in the first year of the agreement – from 7% to 8%.

* DGA will have the right to allocate up to 0.5% of the negotiated increases in salary rates -- second and third years of contract -- to either pension plan or health plan.

The short summary of the DGA Agreement is similar to many other agreements of various entertainment guilds and unions: 3%/3%/3% increases in wages and benefits, changes to low SVOD payouts, the ability for money to be taken from contract wage bump-ups if they're needed, because who knows what the future holds?

I would expect many pension/health plans, both corporate and Taft-Hartley [i.e. union] plans, have been hit pretty hard the last five weeks. All or most invest in stocks, and stocks have been slammed. (You may have noticed.)

My crystal ball is cloudy, but upcoming labor negotiations between the studios and the Writers Guild, Screen Actors Guild, and IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees) will not be easy. The studios will make a stab at arguing that, due to the Recession/Depression and ongoing financial pain, the deal struck with the DGA is inoperative for everybody else.

That should go over well.

But we will see how the other talks pan out. Maybe the economy will be back on its feet by the time the other guilds and unions sit themselves down at the negotiating table. Maybe pigs will fly. Just have to wait and see.