Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is the largest labor union in the United States that represents entertainment and media industry professionals. SAG-AFTRA represents more than 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcasters, journalists, dancers, disc jockeys (DJ’s), news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists, and other media professionals. Its members include performers whose work can be seen and heard in theaters, on television and radio, sound recordings, the Internet, games, mobile devices, and home video. SAG-AFTRA seeks to improve members’ working conditions, pay, and benefits; to preserve and expand members’ work opportunities; and to enforce the union’s contracts. SAG-AFTRA also seeks to protect against unauthorized use of members’ work.
SAG-AFTRA was formed in 2012 by a merger of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). SAG was founded in Hollywood in 1933 by a group of actors who belonged to an actors’ union called the Actors’ Equity Association. They formed SAG chiefly to fight against the long, demanding hours and workweeks that many Hollywood actors had to endure. In 1960, SAG put into effect a pension and health plan for its members. Since 1995, SAG has annually awarded the Screen Actors Guild Awards to recognize outstanding performances by its members. AFTRA was a national labor union formed in 1937 as the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA). In 1952, AFRA merged with the Television Authority, a television regulatory agency created in 1949. The merger created the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. AFTRA represented performers, broadcast journalists, and other artists working in the entertainment and news media. In 1954, AFTRA put into effect a pension and health plan for its members. AFTRA had offices in Los Angeles and New York City.
SAG-AFTRA is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). SAG-AFTRA has headquarters in Los Angeles.
See also Heston, Charlton ; Reagan, Nancy Davis ; Reagan, Ronald Wilson .
