On the eve of opening up a new round of negotiations with the studios, SAG-AFTRA unveiled a new logo last week meant to depict “strength, excellence and unity in front of the camera and behind the microphone.”
The logo, which depicts a figure reaching skyward, perhaps is symbolic of the once-separate unions standing strong together. While SAG-AFTRA was formed out of a merger two years ago, the current talks mark the first time they come to the table under the same banner to negotiate a new film & TV bargaining agreement with the AMPTP.
The logo was developed over the past two years in partnership with global strategic branding firm Siegel+Gale.
“Siegel+Gale has done a great job of embodying the strength and spirit of our union,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director David White, who is serving as the union’s chief negotiator in the talks that began yesterday. “The new visual identity speaks to the diversity of our membership and the principles of excellence on which we were founded.”
Negotiations are being conducted under a media blackout. Sister guilds DGA and WGA reached new three-year agreements earlier in the year. While those talks established a pattern template that included a two percent raise in wages, the wage issue with SAG-AFTRA is slightly more complex. Due to engaging in separate negotiations in recent years, minimum scale for SAG and AFTRA members are not in sync with one another.
Time will tell whether SAG’s lower wages are lifted up a few steps, or AFTRA’s wages are brought down a step.