On Thursday, July 13, the National Board of SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) voted to issue a strike of the Producers–SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Contracts of 2014, as amended by the 2017 and 2020 memoranda of agreement. Rallying the union’s 160,000-some members, the picketing kicked off today (Friday), delivering a right hook to follow the stunning jab of the WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike.
The decision marks the first performers’ strike against film/ television (and now, streaming) in 43 years. It is also the first time the two unions have launched simultaneous strikes since 1960.
In a statement from SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the Board wrote,
“From the time negotiations began on June 7, the members of our Negotiating Committee and our staff team have spent many long days, weekends and holidays working to achieve a deal that protects you, the working actors and performers on whom this industry relies. As you know, over the past decade, your compensation has been severely eroded by the rise of the streaming ecosystem. Furthermore, artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to creative professions, and all actors and performers deserve contract language that protects them from having their identity and talent exploited without consent and pay. Despite our team’s dedication to advocating on your behalf, the AMPTP has refused to acknowledge that enormous shifts in the industry and economy have had a detrimental impact on those who perform labor for the studios.
“Though we’ve engaged in negotiations in good faith and remained eager to reach a deal that sufficiently addressed performer concerns, the AMPTP’s [Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers] responses to our proposals have not been adequate.”
Ahead of the board vote, WGA released a joint statement signed by Teamsters, IATSE (of which The Animation Guild is a part) and the DGA communicating their “unwavering support and solidarity.”
“Hollywood must be a place where every worker, on-screen and off, is treated according to the value their skills and talents command. While the studios have collective worth of trillions of dollars, billions of viewers globally, and sky-high profits, this fight is not about actors against the studios, but rather about workers across all crafts and departments in the industry standing together to prevent mega-corporations from eroding the conditions we fought decades to achieve.”
While the immediate impact of the writers’ strike most mostly felt by late night shows, which rely on daily content turnaround to keep abreast of current events, the loss of on-screen and behind-the-mic performers is expected to hit harder and faster in Hollywood, with ripple effects expected throughout the broader, global entertainment industry. As the work stoppage order from SAG-AFTRA also includes voice actors, a long strike could shake up the animation biz as well.
The previous 2007-08 WGA strike stopped work for 100 days, costing studios the equivalent of $2.8 billion in today’s dollars. According to The Hollywood Reporter, experts opined early on that this action — which kicked off on May 1, International Workers Day — will come with an even bigger price tag. The SAG strike will pile on the financial strain.
The last SAG-AFTRA strike in 1980, which lasted a record-setting 95 days, cost the biz approximately $40 million per week and rocked productions on almost 100 television series in or imminently going into production. Over half the 24k-strong union workforce were laid off across technical, craft and support positions, according to Daily Variety industry poll conducted that summer.
[Sources: SAG-AFTRA, WGA, Hollywood Reporter]
