The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists reached a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after six weeks of negotiations. The early negotiations and the lack of public announcements by the unions were part of an effort to end the history of contentiousness and drawn-out contract negotiations. The unions and the Alliance agreed to a 2% pay increase and a 10% health and pension contribution increase. Both SAG and AFTRA said that they were very happy with the deal and with how smoothly the negotiations went. The two unions are considering merging. The unions' contract will go into effect on July 1, pending ratification by the members. The Directors Guild of America is expected to begin negotiations sometime this month.
See "Actors' union and studios agree to new contract", Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2010