SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Takes On Members Of Union’s Ruling Party In Contentious National Board Debate About Covid Vaccination Mandates

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe SAG-AFTRA Health Plan announced Friday that it will reimburse participants for travel costs when they are forced to go out of state for an abortion.The health plan covers eligible members of the union, which represents about 160,000 actors, broadcast journalists, stunt performers, news editors, and other media professionals.The trustees of the plan unanimously approved the new policy, which is retroactive to Aug. 1.

Trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan have unanimously approved a reimbursement benefit to cover travel and lodging expenses related to abortion care for participants who live or work in states that prohibit abortions. “In taking this decisive action,” the trustees said in a press release Friday, “SAG-AFTRA and management Plan trustees are seeking to ensure participants will continue to have access to safe abortion services regardless of where they live or work.”

here. SAG-AFTRA and the Management Plan Trustees said in a press release Friday that they “are seeking to ensure participants will continue to have access to safe abortion services regardless of where they live or work.”More to come…

Extra innings? Abbi Jacobson has a lot of stories to tell in Prime Video’s A League of Their Own — and is making it count in season 1.

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, saying that Hollywood’s Covid vaccination mandate “walks the razor’s edge of compromising religious, disability and body sovereignty freedoms,” is urging the guild’s national board to review the most up-to-date science on the effectiveness of vaccines on the spread of the virus’ latest variant before agreeing to extend the industry’s vaccination mandate.

The first trailer for Hulu’s “Wedding Season” ensures that audiences will think twice before saying “I do.” From the producers of “Broad City,” “Difficult People,” “Younger” and “Search Party,” this action-packed romantic comedy revolves around Katie and Stefan, who fall for one another at a wedding and begin an affair despite the pesky little reality that Katie is engaged. Two months later at Katie’s wedding, her new husband and his entire family are murdered.

The SAG-AFTRA National Board overwhelmingly approved its new bargaining agreement with Netflix on Monday, sending it to members for a ratification vote. The new agreement is a follow-up to the 2019 contract that marked the first agreement between the actors union and the streaming studio, but it will also be the last one made exclusively between the two sides.

SAG-AFTRA’s national board has voted overwhelmingly to approve a new three-year contract with Netflix. The contract now goes to the guild’s membership for ratification.

Love Island star Adam Collard has addressed claims he split from Paige Thorne just days after the series came to an end. Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti were announced as the winners of 2022 Love Island on Monday night, beating runners-up Gemma Owen and Luca Bish to the £50,000 prize. Adam, 26, and Paige, 24, narrowly missed out on a place in the final as they were dumped from the villa the day before.

EXCLUSIVE: SAG-AFTRA has collected more than $1 billion in dues and “agency fees” from its active members and financial core non-members since its founding 10 years ago with the merger of SAG and AFTRA, according financial reports the union files with the U.S. Department of Labor.

The contract also included anti-harassment protections negotiated by SAG-AFTRA in the wake of the #MeToo movement, including a ban on auditions in private settings such as residences and hotel rooms and adherence to on-set harassment protocols. Prior to 2019, SAG-AFTRA had been signing productions with Netflix directly — production by production.

Wilson Chapman editorNetflix Studios and SAG-AFTRA have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, Variety has confirmed.The contract will be a successor to the three-year deal that the streamer and union signed in 2019, which was approved upon by SAG-AFTRA’s national board without ratification by union membership. Prior to the contract, Netflix signed agreements with the union on a production-by-production basis, and used the union’s codified agreement and television agreements as a template.The 2019 deal was set at the time to expire June 30, but was extended to July 31 as Netflix and SAG-AFTRA agreed to extend negotiations.

SAG-AFTRA and Netflix Studio have reached a tentative deal on terms for a successor contract to their pact known as the 2019 Netflix Agreement. The deal is subject to approval by the SAG-AFTRA National Board, which will meet August 8.

Davis Powell has been appointed executive director of the SAG-AFTRA Seattle Local, which serves members in the Seattle and Portland locals. “I am honored to be entrusted with the opportunity to lead our dedicated staff team,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with members to take these locals to the next level.”

A federal judge has dismissed Frances Fisher’s lawsuit against SAG-AFTRA, in which the actress accused the union and several of its former and current leaders of breaching their duty of fair representation over the raising of eligibility requirements for coverage under the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan

The off-air content staff members of PBS NewsHour have unionized with SAG-AFTRA.

IATSE president Matthew Loeb is urging his members to get out and vote in the upcoming midterm elections and to contribute to the union’s political action committee, which overwhelmingly supports Democratic candidates for federal office.