On the evening of Wednesday, December 8, the DGA’s National Board voted unanimously to approve the tentative new agreement that had been negotiated with the AMPTP and to recommend it for ratification by the membership. The vote took place at a special meeting that had been called in order to present details of the contract to the Board.
"I'm truly pleased with this new contract," said Gil Cates, Chair of the DGA’s Negotiations Committee, when the Board’s action was announced. "We went in there knowing full well that securing a substantial increase in employer contributions to our Health Plan would be our top priority. By the time we finished, we not only achieved a significant increase in contributions on our regular compensation, we also achieved contributions on Completion of Assignment Pay and Vacation Pay for the first time ever. This is a tremendous new source of funding for the Health Plan and a wonderful, important gain for our members."
The new provision requiring Employers to pay Health Plan contributions on Completion of Assignment Pay and Vacation Pay, in addition to providing additional funding for the Health Plan, will also allow members to count more of their compensation towards qualifying for health coverage. Additionally, the cap on Health Plan contributions for Unit Production Managers on theatrical motion pictures will increase to $350,000 – a sizeable increase of $100,000 over the old cap.
The tentative agreement provides for a 2% standard rate increase for minimum salaries and residuals bases in each year of the contract; the establishment of a new compensation tier for Directors working in high-budget basic cable dramatic programming; and includes provisions addressing diversity, creative rights and other issues affected by changing production patterns.
The Guild also accepted certain patterns that had been established by the SAG/AFTRA negotiations, including provisions regarding travel.
Cates noted, "With the Health Plan gains, the establishment of a new tier in Basic Cable, and the other issues we addressed, this was an excellent result for both our directors and our members who work as part of the directorial team. The Committee worked very hard and I am proud of what they accomplished."
Negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers began on Tuesday, November 16, and concluded on Tuesday, December 7. Talks were led by Cates and DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth.
"This substantial new agreement accomplishes our most important objectives and I'm grateful for the leadership and wisdom of Negotiations Chair Gil Cates and National Executive Director Jay Roth," said DGA President Taylor Hackford. "We had an incredibly involved Negotiations Committee, and I would like to thank them and the DGA staff for their dedication and hard work – it truly paid off."
The ratification materials, which include a ballot and more details on the new contract, will be sent to DGA members before the end of the year. The new contract, if ratified, will take effect on July 1, 2011 for a term of three years.
Highlights of the new agreement include:
Increase in Employer contributions to Health Plan:
- Employers will contribute an additional 1.5% of compensation to the Health Plan, for a total of 10%. This is a 17.6% increase in Employer contributions to the Health Plan, the largest increase in Employer contribution rates since the Plan was founded. Together with the 5.5% contributed to the Pension Plan, Employers will now be contributing 15.5% of total compensation to the Health and Pension Plans.
- For the first time, Employers will make contributions to the Health Plan on Vacation Pay and Completion of Assignment Pay. This is a substantial new benefit that will also allow more DGA members to qualify for healthcare.
- The cap on Health Plan contributions for Unit Production Managers employed on theatrical motion pictures will increase from $250,000 to $350,000.
Increase in wages and residuals bases:
- The standard rate increase for minimum salaries and residuals bases will be 2% in each year of the contract.
Basic Cable:
- A new, higher compensation tier will be established to more appropriately compensate DGA Directors working on high-budget basic cable dramatic programming.
Unit Production Managers, Assistant Directors, Associate Directors and Stage Managers:
- Mandatory Safety Training: As proposed by the DGA, the existing Directors Guild-Producer Training Plan Safety Passport Training Course will now become mandatory for UPMs, Assistant Directors, Associate Directors and Stage Managers eligible to work in Southern California.
- Residuals Sharing: Associate Directors on multi-camera prime time dramatic series will receive a proportionate share of residuals. This marks the first time that Employees performing the job previously known as Technical Coordinators will receive a share of residuals.
Travel:
- The DGA agreed to the same modifications in its travel provisions that SAG and AFTRA agreed to in their contract negotiations.
- For domestic flights less than 1,000 air miles, flights between Los Angeles and Vancouver, and flights of less than 1,000 miles to Vancouver or Toronto, DGA-covered employees will travel on the highest level of coach available.
- All other travel must be business class when available and first class otherwise.
- Employees must also be reimbursed for baggage charges and in-flight meals.
- If a DGA-covered employee is traveling on the same flight as another employee on the same production who is entitled to travel in a higher class pursuant to the minimum terms of the collective bargaining agreement under which he or she is employed, then the DGA-covered employee must be upgraded to that higher class of service.
Term:
- The term of the agreement is three years, July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2014.
The new agreement also includes provisions addressing diversity; creative rights; and issues arising from changing production patterns including development services, long hours for Assistant Directors and the employment of Unit Production Managers.
Details of the new agreement were presented to the Guild’s National Board for approval at a special board meeting on Wednesday, December 8. A ballot and ratification materials will next be sent to the DGA membership. The DGA’s current contracts expire on June 30, 2011.
