SAG-AFTRA will represent Telemundo

After more than a year of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA said Thursday that it has reached a tentative contract with Telemundo Television Studios to cover Spanish-language television performers.

The agreement includes participation and contributions to the guild’s health and pension plans, as well as increases in certain compensation.

SAG-AFTRA leaders said details of the new agreement will be presented at an informational meeting in Miami, and later to the SAG-AFTRA National Board for approval at its meeting July 21.

Telemundo performers voted in March 2017 to organize with SAG-AFTRA, with 81% of eligible voters choosing to unionize. The Miami-based network was acquired by NBCUniversal in 2001 and is the largest employer of Spanish-language performers in the United States,

Last year’s vote marked a victory for SAG-AFTRA, which has been agitating for about 15 years to extend union benefits to actors who work on the network’s popular shows. The guild claimed that Telemundo paid its performers half of what English-language actors earn on other NBCUniversal-owned networks, and that Telemundo doesn’t provide its telenovela actors with healthcare, contribute to their pensions or pay standard overtime or residuals.

The new three-year contract is expected to remedy at least some of the points of contention.

SAG-AFTRA said the agreement includes residuals for both foreign and domestic exploitation and streaming platforms, based on a percentage of Telemundo’s gross revenue. It also includes first-ever guaranteed minimum rates for all covered performer categories. Compensation in certain areas would increase, including annual hikes of between 1% and 2% in all newly established minimums.