Actors Union Votes to Strike: ‘This Is a Moment of History’

Hollywood is officially in the midst of what could be an industry-crippling “double strike” as SAG-AFTRA voted a strike order Thursday after their television, theatrical, and streaming contracts expired at midnight without a new deal in place.

Following four weeks of negotiations, the 160,000-member Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists did not reach a new deal with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the movie studios and streaming services.

In light of the impasse, the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee announced it has voted unanimously to recommend a strike to the national board. SAG-AFTRA’s national board held the strike vote Thursday.

“SAG-AFTRA as national board unanimously voted to issue a strike order against the studios and streamers,” SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said at a Thursday press conference.

“The board has determined that union members should withhold their labor, until a fair contract and be achieved a strike is an instrument of last resort, we tried for four weeks to reach a deal with the AMPTP. And unfortunately, they have left us with no alternative.”

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in her impassioned speech, “What happens here is important, because what’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor. By means of when employers make Wall Street’s greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run. We have a problem. And we are experiencing that. Right at this moment. This is a very seminal hour for us.”

Drescher continued, “And so it came with great sadness that we came to this crossroads, but we had no choice. We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it. Quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things. How they plead our money, that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment. We stand in solidarity in unprecedented unity.”

One of the biggest issues, Crabtree-Ireland said, was a “groundbreaking AI proposal” that proposed “that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan their image, their likeness, and to be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation.”

Before the strike order was officially announced, Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan announced at the film’s London premiere that the cast had left the red carpet event to “go and write their pickets”; as part of the strike, union members are discouraged from promotional appearances.

“SAG-AFTRA negotiated in good faith and was eager to reach a deal that sufficiently addressed performer needs, but the AMPTP’s responses to the union’s most important proposals have been insulting and disrespectful of our massive contributions to this industry,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement Wednesday.

“The companies have refused to meaningfully engage on some topics, and on others completely stonewalled us. Until they do negotiate in good faith, we cannot begin to reach a deal. We have no choice but to move forward in unity, and on behalf of our membership, with a strike recommendation to our National Board. The board will discuss the issue this morning and will make its decision.”

Crabtree-Ireland added Wednesday, “The studios and streamers have implemented massive unilateral changes in our industry’s business model, while at the same time insisting on keeping our contracts frozen in amber. That’s not how you treat a valued, respected partner and essential contributor. Their refusal to meaningfully engage with our key proposals and the fundamental disrespect shown to our members is what has brought us to this point. The studios and streamers have underestimated our members’ resolve, as they are about to fully discover.”

In a press release, SAG-AFTRA called out several studios by name, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. Discovery, noting that AMPTP “remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on the key issues that are essential to SAG-AFTRA members.”

In response, AMPTP said in a statement, “We are deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations. This is the Union’s choice, not ours. In doing so, it has dismissed our offer of historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses, and more. Rather than continuing to negotiate, SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods.”

News of the strike comes just hours after the Emmy Awards announced the nominees for its 2023 event, an award show that could ultimately be impacted if the strike stretches into the fall and onto the Primetime Emmys’ Sept. 10 show date.

Last month, 98 percent of SAG-AFTRA members voted in favor of a strike if contract talks stall. The potential SAG-AFTRA strike arrives as the WGA strike, which began May 2, wages on. This could mark Hollywood’s first “double strike” — when actors and writers were simultaneously on strike — since 1960. The SAG president at the time: Future POTUS Ronald Reagan, The Wrap notes.

SAG-AFTRA and WGA members are fighting for the same issues: increased residual payments, higher salaries, and the regulation of artificial intelligence in filmmaking. 

The strike also comes amid union members’ dissatisfaction with Drescher, who was photographed this past weekend partying with Kim Kardashian in Italy despite the looming labor battle.

“I have faith in the negotiating team around her. I think there’s a lot of wisdom and passion in that room, and I know a lot of the people on the negotiating team personally that have made me feel at ease about the situation going into whatever results in the next 24 hours,” one member told Rolling Stone.

“But I see Fran [Drescher] as a figurehead who enjoys the press and posing for cameras more than anything else. Unfortunately, she’s the head of one of the largest labor unions in entertainment at a time of seasonal change, and she’s not the leader of the moment, but she’s the leader we have for the moment.” 

Before the initial June 30 deadline, Rolling Stone broke the news that more than 300 SAG members, including major stars like Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Poehler, and other A-list actors signed a letter to the SAG-AFTRA leadership and negotiating committee. In the letter, they threatened to strike and expressed their dissatisfaction with Drescher and other leaders, writing, “SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.”

The longest SAG strike in Hollywood history occurred in 1988, with 153 days elapsing before the two sides reached an agreement; the WGA strike is currently at more than 70 days.

This post was updated on July 13 with the AMPTP’s strike vote.

From Rolling Stone US.