SAG-AFTRA

What it is

SAG-AFTRA is an American labor union formed on March 30, 2012, by the merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists^[1]. It represents approximately 170,000 media professionals worldwide^[1]. The union is a member of the AFL-CIO, the large American federation of labor unions, and of the International Federation of Actors^[1]. It is headquartered in two cities, Los Angeles and New York City^[1].

Like other labor unions, its core work is collective bargaining: it negotiates with employers on behalf of its members over pay and working conditions rather than leaving each worker to bargain alone, and it speaks for those members as a body. A union of this kind also functions as a professional association, defining who belongs to the trade and giving newcomers a recognized status within it.

Who it represents

The membership is broad. It includes actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, disc jockeys, news writers, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers and voice-over artists^[1]. That range reflects the union's double inheritance: it covers people who perform on camera and people who work in broadcasting, news and music, not screen actors alone.

For new performers and media professionals, membership in SAG-AFTRA is considered a rite of passage^[1]. Joining is commonly treated as the point at which someone moves from student productions and amateur work into recognized professional standing in the industry.

Origins

The union exists because two organizations decided to become one. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists merged on March 30, 2012, creating a single union under the combined name SAG-AFTRA^[1]. The name itself preserves both predecessors: "SAG" from the Screen Actors Guild and "AFTRA" from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

The Actor Awards

The union's Actor Awards were founded in 1995, before the merger, under the name Screen Actors Guild Awards^[1]. The awards are the union's own honor, presented under its name and carried forward by the merged organization as the Actor Awards^[1]. They are one of the ways the union appears in public beyond contract talks, since a labor organization that represents performers also puts its name on the prizes those performers receive.

The 2023 TV/Theatrical negotiations

In the 2023 TV/Theatrical negotiations, SAG-AFTRA secured protections for the creation and use of digital replicas of performers, including informed consent and compensation^[2]. A digital replica is a digital reproduction of a performer's appearance or voice that can be used in a production in place of the performer; the contract terms require that the performer agree knowingly to such use and be paid for it^[2]. The union's projections for the 2023 contract showed $1.014 billion in new money over the agreement's term^[2].

The health plan lawsuit

In 2024 a proposed class action lawsuit was filed against the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan for negligence after a cyberattack resulted in a data breach^[1]. A class action is a suit brought by one or a few plaintiffs on behalf of a larger group of people who share the same complaint; in this case the complaint concerned how the plan handled members' data around the attack. The suit resulted in a settlement in August 2025^[1].

The episode points to a side of a modern union that has little to do with negotiating scenes or salaries: the union's name also stands behind the health plan that serves its members, and that plan holds personal data about them.