By more than an 81 percent majority, rank-and-file members of the Screen Actors Guild today approved the Interactive Media Agreement. The agreement stipulates pay scale for SAG members that lend their voices and likenesses to games. It provides for higher pay, but it doesn't include residuals, as some SAG members had sought.

　　Union members had previously approved the contract, but that vote was rejected by the union's executive committee. At their insistence, union members were polled a second time, with the committee stating it would abide by the second vote, regardless of its outcome.

　　Of 3,373 ballots mailed to SAG members for the most recent vote, more than 1,300 were returned to SAG headquarters by yesterday, the last day of voting. The new contract takes effect today and runs through December 31, 2008.

　　For voice actors affiliated with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the agreement has been in effect since May, when AFTRA members approved it.

　　Prior to the current contract, voice actors had been paid a minimum of $556 per four-hour work session. The new agreement will now increase the rate to $759 by 2008, with an immediate 25 percent increase to $695. According to The Hollywood Reporter, additional benefits include a 7.5 percent increase in contributions to the unions' benefit plans, which will now tally 14.3 percent.

　　In a statement, Screen Actors Guild chief negotiator Sallie Weaver said, "By voting for this contract, SAG members have achieved major gains despite the fact that we were not able to win in the area of residuals. The interactive market is of vital importance to our membership, and SAG will spend the next three-and-a-half years devoting resources to further organize this exploding industry so that we can return to the bargaining table with renewed strength and vigor."