SAG-AFTRA Members, Including Yvette Nicole Brown, Make Picket Signs Ahead of Possible Strike
As its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) continues, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is emphasizing that it’s ready to go on strike if a deal isn’t met by the deadline on Thursday, July 13.
On Friday, July 7, the union posted Twitter photos of members making “SAG-AFTRA on Strike!” picket signs. “If a strike becomes necessary, we’re ready,” SAG-AFTRA’s Twitter caption reads.
If a strike becomes necessary, we're ready. pic.twitter.com/62kUzNId4e
— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) July 8, 2023
SAG-AFTRA also shared a TikTok video of the picket sign production with the same caption on Friday, and Community alum Yvette Nicole Brown, a SAG-AFTRA National Board member, can be seen chipping in.
“Know this, we shall be ready if a deal isn’t made,” Brown tweeted on Saturday, July 8, sharing SAG-AFTRA’s Twitter post. “This is not a game. EVERYONE who works in this industry — above and below the line — should be paid what they deserve.”
@sagaftra If a strike becomes necessary, we’re ready. #SAGAFTRAstrong #sagaftramembers
If SAG-AFTRA and its 160,000 members do on strike, it’ll be the first film and TV actor walkout since 1980, when the then-separate SAG and AFTRA organizations went on strike for more than three months over contract terms for pay TV and video cassettes, Deadline reports.
And as the WGA strike continues, a SAG-AFTRA strike would bring Hollywood’s first simultaneous strike by actors and writers in more than 60 years, according to Variety.
On June 5, SAG-AFTRA members authorized a possible strike via vote, with nearly 98 percent of voters approving the plan.
“The upcoming TV/Theatrical negotiations will determine whether our members working in film, television, and streaming can continue earning a professional living doing the job they love,” SAG-AFTRA said on its website.
Specifically, the union has expressed concern around residuals, healthcare and retirement benefit plans, use of artificial intelligence, and the practice of self-tape auditions.
On June 30, SAG-AFTRA said that it and AMPTP would “continue to negotiate under a mutually agreed upon media blackout” but would extend the TV/Theatrical contracts to 11:59 p.m. PT on Wednesday, July 12.
