SAG-AFTRA Animation Deal: 12.6% Raise, 94.95% Vote — SkimNews
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- SAG-AFTRA members nationwide voted 94.95% on Thursday to ratify the 2026 Television Animation Agreement and the Basic Cable Animation Agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
- The 2026 animation contracts run four years and deliver a 12.6% wage increase over the term, alongside enhanced protections around AI use, residual gains, and increases to the Health Plan and pension and retirement plans.
- Sean Astin said the negotiating committee delivered "a dignified deal with essential AI protections," crediting TV Animation Negotiating Committee co-chairs Bob Bergen and David Jolliffe.
- Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA's National Executive Director & CEO and fresh off his own contract renewal, said animation performers are entitled to "meaningful protections around AI" and wages reflecting the value of their labor, thanking Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez and the negotiating staff.
- The agreements become effective retroactively from July 1, 2026, and expire June 30, 2030.
Why it matters: Voice actors in TV and basic cable animation gain a 12.6% raise across four years, with AI protections, residual gains and health and pension increases written into contracts that run to June 30, 2030. For SAG-AFTRA leadership, the 94.95% vote backs the committee's focus on wages and what Astin called "essential AI protections."
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