Executive Committee Approves Contract for Member Ratification
LOS ANGELES, October 5, 2026 —SAG-AFTRA’s Executive Committee has unanimously approved the recently negotiated SAG-AFTRA 2026 Television Animation Agreement, putting it in the hands of members to ratify. The union recommends a yes vote.
“This agreement empowers the animation voiceover community with many of the same wins from our live action agreement and then some,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. “Thanks to the advocacy of negotiating committee co-chairs David Jolliffe and Bob Bergen, and the tireless work of lead negotiator and Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez and the staff negotiating team, we’ve secured meaningful annual wage increases, crucial AI protections, strengthened residuals and more.”
“We sought to achieve gains in the areas that matter most to our members: wages, AI protections, better residuals, and contributions to the health and pension plans,” said lead negotiator & Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez. “This agreement delivers in all those areas.”
“Member input was key in shaping the way we approached these negotiations, which was from the perspective of protecting and celebrating human performers,” said David Jolliffe, co-chair of the negotiating committee. “It guided every step of the process.”
“I’ve served on this committee since the early 1990s and have co-chaired since 2010. TV Animation is one of the few voiceover contracts that has stayed mostly union. We are a mighty bunch, and some of the most employed actors in SAG-AFTRA. I am grateful to our smart, savvy and respectful committee, as well as my co-chair, David Jolliffe, and our terrific union staff,” said Bob Bergen, co-chair of the negotiating committee.
The four-year contract guarantees a 3% wage increase in each year of the agreement, including retroactivity to July 5, 2026, for the first year increase.
Other gains in the contract include:
- Expanded the AI guardrails to include the improvements from the 2026 live action agreements while retaining the existing enhanced terms for animated programs.
- A 1% increase to the Health Plan contribution rate retroactive to Sept. 6, 2026, and a 1% increase to the contribution rate of the pension and retirement plans, effective July 1, 2028.
- A 0.25% contribution, effective July 1, 2028 to fund the creation of a paid parental leave fund.
- Increased residuals for moveover to subscription video on demand in line with what was achieved in live action, which means an average 5% increase to voice actors and more contribution money to the plans.
- Improved streaming residuals for animated high-budget SVOD programs that are 85 minutes or longer with a budget of $30 million or more in the form of a new, higher ceiling that allows more voice actor compensation to count in the residuals calculation.
- Improved streaming residuals for Animated High Budget SVOD Programs that are exhibited on foreign SVOD services that have 75 million or more foreign subscribers in the form of an increase from 39% to 41% in the Tier 4 subscriber factor.
- Creation of a category for high-budget animated programs made for free-to-consumer new media services using a much lower budget threshold to account for the economics of producing animation — the same budget criteria that apply to high-budget animated SVOD programs — with terms similar to animated programs made for basic cable.
Affected members will be sent postcards on Thursday, Oct. 8 with instructions on how to vote online in the referendum, as well as instructions on how to request a paper ballot for those who do not wish to vote online.
An informational meeting will take place Friday, Oct. 9, providing a detailed look at the provisions and giving members the opportunity to have their questions answered. The meeting will be recorded and posted to the website for viewing by those who are unable to attend.
The deadline to cast votes in the referendum is Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. PT.
Visit sagaftra.org/tvanimation2026 for details.
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