November 29, 2017
Los Angeles – Directors Guild of America President Thomas Schlamme today announced that the DGA membership overwhelmingly ratified the new collective bargaining agreement between the DGA and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP).
“From increases in wages and benefit contributions to gains in safety, we entered into negotiations with the goal of achieving the best possible deal for our members who work in the commercial production industry,” said Schlamme. “Thanks to the DGA negotiations committee and our professional staff, we met that objective with a new contract that contains significant improvements while also allowing producers the flexibility they need to keep this rapidly evolving, global industry thriving.”
Highlights of the agreement include:
- Wage increases of 2.5% in the first year of the contract and 3% in each of the second and third years of the contract.
- A permanent increase in the employer contribution rate to the DGA Pension Plan by one-half percent (.5%) in the first year of the agreement from 5.5% to 6%. The DGA will also have the right to allocate up to .5% of the negotiated increases in salary rates in the second and third years of the Agreement to the DGA Pension Plan or DGA Health Plan.
- Establishment of mandatory safety training for Assistant Directors and Unit Production Managers to support their roles in helping the employer maintain best practices and a safe working environment.
Other highlights include outsized wage gains for Second Assistant Directors, increases in the base upon which pension and health contributions are made on behalf of Directors, and a commitment from the AICP to further develop the Director Diversity Program established in the 2014 negotiations.
Negotiations were led by Associate National Executive Director Bryan Unger, Eastern Executive Director Neil Dudich, and a DGA member negotiations committee. The DGA’s National Board of Directors unanimously approved the contract during a special board meeting on November 4.
The new contract covers a three-year term from December 1, 2017 – November 30, 2020.