As you might have noticed, the Network Television Code, otherwise known as the “Netcode” or simply “the Code,” has expired as of June 30, 2024, and SAG-AFTRA as of this writing has not said anything publicly about that event.

What is the Netcode?  It’s a major collective bargaining agreement covering a lot of TV shows, with a history generally rooted in AFTRA. The TV shows the Netcode covers usually are variety shows, game shows, talk shows, awards shows, promos, and soap operas.

In other words, the Netcode doesn’t cover “dramatic” TV shows or sitcoms. Those shows are covered by the Television Agreement, a completely different collective bargaining agreement with a history generally rooted in the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

The Editor wrote to a representative of SAG-AFTRA for an update on the Netcode, given its apparent expiration several days ago. Here is what the SAG-AFTRA representative wrote today at 3:12pm ET:

The negotiating committee is presently bargaining with the agreement’s signatories on an extension agreement to the Code. When the extension agreement is final and executed by both parties, it will be made public. In the event it becomes clear that agreement on an extension is not possible, the parties will begin bargaining the new contract as soon as possible.

As a followup, the Editor asked this SAG-AFTRA representative, “Are unit members free to work for a Netcode signatory in the interim? Does the status quo hold for now?”

The SAG-AFTRA representative wrote back at 4:26pm ET:

Yes, the agreement remains in the status quo period for now for unit members to work under, until an extension is agreed to, or new agreement is reached.

Effectively, this means stand-ins and other performers working under the Netcode can still work on these productions. For now, the expired provisions will hold.

If SAG-AFTRA and the Networks (“the agreement’s signatories”) agree to an extension, that will probably mean the expired provisions will hold, though the extension will have a future expiration date. And the Netcode could be extended again … and again … and again.

If SAG-AFTRA and the Networks don’t agree to an extension, they “begin bargaining” “as soon as possible,” still probably meaning the expired provisions will hold.

SAG-AFTRA will not be going on strike — at least as of now. SAG-AFTRA has not asked for strike authorization from its members, so it does not have authority to call a strike right now. That the Union is negotiating an extension of the expired Netcode would probably mean it is not considering striking right now anyway, and instead prefers to keep the expired terms in place.

Last time SAG-AFTRA was in negotiations over the Netcode, the Netcode effectively expired on June 30, 2021, and it wasn’t until May 2022 that SAG-AFTRA announced a tentative agreement.  After SAG-AFTRA members ratified that tentative agreement, its provisions were retroactive to July 1, 2021.

Retroactive application of provisions might sound great, but retroactivity tends only to apply in any practical way to monetary aspects of a collective bargaining agreement. For example, if you were retroactively granted a pay raise, you likely will receive additional paychecks for the work you did during the extension period. But if a new deal achieved some non-monetary gain (for example, your own separate dressing room), it would have been nice to have that during the extension period, right? There is nothing really to do about gaining back non-monetary provisions lost during extended negotiations that eventually provide retroactivity. All the more reason for SAG-AFTRA to strike a deal closer to the expiration date, rather than agree to drawn-out negotiations.

Let’s hope SAG-AFTRA gets more transparent about its negotiations of the Netcode this time. Last time, the Editor basically had to email SAG-AFTRA to find out if the Netcode had been extended, multiple times, after learning SAG-AFTRA agreed to keep extending the effectively expired version, multiple times.

SAG-AFTRA is certainly resoundingly quieter about the status of these TV negotiations compared to last year’s Television Agreement negotiations — which led to a strike and lots and lots of media attention.

Do you have thoughts on the expired Netcode? Post your insights in the comment box below.