After 15 months of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA today announced it has reached what it calls a “historic” tentative agreement with Telemundo Television Studios covering Spanish-language television performers.
The three-year contract must be approved by the Telemundo actors and the SAG-AFTRA national board at its July 21 meeting to go into effect.
Actors and other performers of Telemundo’s original productions sought unionization claiming they were unfairly compensated and didn’t receive basic benefits like health care coverage – things the agreement addresses.
Telemundo performers voted 91 to 21 to unionize on March 8, 2017, marking the first time in 65 years that a group of actors at a major television network sought a unionization election. SAG-AFTRA had been trying to unionize Telemundo actors for years.
At the time of the vote, Telemundo expressed disappointment with the result, but today, the company said it “is pleased to have reached an agreement with SAG-AFTRA for performers on our scripted dramatic productions in the U.S.”
More details, including key provisions of the deal, are available on Forbes.