SAG-AFTRA Extends Contract Deadline, Delaying Potential Actors Strike
With just hours to go, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) extended a negotiation deadline and delayed a potential strike in its conflict with Hollywood studios.
SAG-AFTRA announced on Friday, June 30, that it had agreed with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to extend the existing television and theatrical contracts.
“The agreements, which were set to expire at 11:59 p.m. PT tonight, will now expire on July 12, at 11:59 pm PT,” SAG-AFTRA said in an update on Friday. “The parties will continue to negotiate under a mutually agreed upon media blackout. … Accordingly, members should continue to report for work as usual up until further notice.”
Now, SAG-AFTRA’s national board is scheduled to meet on July 13 to determine whether a “satisfactory” deal has been reached. “Members should be prepared for the very real possibility that the National Board will declare a strike of the Codified Basic Agreement and Television Agreement effective as early as July 13, 2023,” the organization adds.
The union, which represents around 160,000 actors, is negotiating with AMPTP around issues like streaming residuals, artificial intelligence, and pension and health contributions, according to Variety. An actors strike would hobble film and scripted TV productions that haven’t already been stopped by the ongoing writers strike, which started on May 2.
In a video update on June 24, The Nanny star and SAG-AFTRA National Board President Fran Drescher told members the union was engaged in “extremely productive negotiations that are laser-focused on all of the crucial issues you told us are most important to you.”
However, in a letter signed by more than 300 actors and obtained by Rolling Stone, SAG-AFTRA members told negotiators that they “maybe be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.”
They wrote: “We hope you’ve heard the message from us: This is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry, and what might be considered a good deal in any other years is simply not enough. We feel that our wages, our craft, our creative freedom, and the power of our union have all been undermined in the last decade. We need to reverse those trajectories.”
The signatories — including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, and Quinta Brunson — emphasized several issues in the letter, including AI technology, minimum pay, and self-tape casting practices.
“We want you to know that we would rather go on strike than compromise on these fundamental points,” they added. “If you are not able to get all the way there, we ask that you use the power given to you by us, the membership, and join the WGA on the picket lines. For our union and its future, this is our moment. We hope that, on our behalf, you will meet that moment and not miss it.”
