The proposal, if approved, would give actors a 2.5 percent pay raise and a .2 percent increase in employer contributions to health and pension beginning January 1, 2010. It would also create a new category for actors in games, “atmospheric performer.”

Back in 2005, a Variety report claimed only 10 to 15 percent of video game voice work is done by SAG or AFTRA actors — although included in that figure are such heavy hitters as Halo and Madden.

Wages for game voice actors under SAG were raised by 3 percent, bringing them in line with existing AFTRA wages. This would be followed by a 2.5 percent wage increase for both organizations’ workers on April 1, 2010. The SAG agreement is still awaiting ratification.

“AFTRA members pioneered union work under the Interactive Media Agreement in the early 1990s, and today this contract generates millions of dollars in earnings and benefits for thousands of AFTRA members in both large and small markets around the nation,” said AFTRA president Roberta Reardon in a statement.

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Screen Actors Guild thesps have thrown a wrench into the world of videogame voice work, rejecting a tentative deal for a new contract and asking employers to return to the bargaining table.

The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, which covers the lion’s share of unionized voice work for vidgames, is sending out the same deal to its 2,200 members who work the contract with a Nov. 12 deadline for response. AFTRA’s national board OK’d the deal Saturday with “an overwhelming and strong” recommendation for a yes vote.

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