Done Deal

Just a few hours ago we agreed to a new contract with the producers. I'd post at length about it, but I got a flat tire on the way from Encino, and I need to deal with that while it's light. Bottom line is we got a very good contract. To the credit of the producers, they heard us on a couple of very key points, and really worked with us. The big news is we got major bump-ups for writers in the health and pension contributions (like, a whopping 50% increase!). We also got the bump-ups to the wage minimums and pension gains that mirror those that the IA negotiated in the basic agreement, and we avoided any big give-backs. It was a job well done, and I thank all of our committee for their solid work. And a special thanks to master negotiator Matt Loeb from the IA! Our negotiating committee was unanimous in endorsing the contract to the membership. You'll get the details soon, and then it will be up to all of you to ratify the contract.