Los Angeles, CA – The membership of the Directors Guild of America voted to ratify the new three-year collective bargaining agreements between the DGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), DGA President Michael Apted announced today. The DGA's National Board of Directors unanimously approved the contract on October 2, 2004, after completion of negotiations on September 23, 2004. A summary of the new contract was mailed to members, along with a voting ballot, and the results were tallied on October 25, 2004. The current DGA contracts expire on June 30, 2005.
"I am proud to report that our membership overwhelmingly voted to ratify the new contract," Apted stated. "This was an exceptionally rich deal for our members – well-crafted, with strong gains in the most important issues facing our membership – protecting their health benefits, furthering their creative rights and many other contract advances. Having worked as hard as we did to negotiate a deal that offers our members the largest total economic package in Guild history, it is particularly gratifying to see the strong support of our members in ratifying the agreements."
Apted continued, "This ratification vote is a tribute to the unrelenting determination and matchless skill of our Negotiating Committee Chairman Gil Cates, our Creative Rights Negotiating Co-Chairs Steven Soderbergh and Jonathan Mostow, our National Executive Director Jay Roth and the rest of our negotiating teams."
"At the end of the day, this is an excellent deal for DGA members and for the industry" said DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth. "Protecting the financial stability of our Health Plan was the DGA's number one priority. To have accomplished this for our members, in combination with the other important gains of the agreement, makes me proud to have been a part of the strong team that negotiated this successful deal." Roth further stated, "This deal not only resulted in significant gains for our members, it also reaffirmed that good deals can be made early between labor and employers – keeping our members and the industry working."
