The union, which represents about 160,000 TV and film actors, continued Friday night to negotiate deals with major Hollywood studios and streaming services, extending the current deal, which was due to expire at midnight, through July 12. announced.
The decision will be a welcome reprieve, at least for now, for Hollywood, which has been plagued by a writer’s strike entering its ninth week with no end in sight. A second strike by the Actors’ Trade Union (SAG-AFTRA), the industry’s largest labor group, would effectively shut down Hollywood.
It will be the first time since 1960 that actors and writers will be on the picket line if the actors go on strike. The last time the actors went on a long strike was in 1980, when they were out for three months.
The union’s president, Fran Drescher, appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday to promote the new project and, when asked if the parties were moving forward, said, “In some areas, we are moving forward. there is,” he said. Not so in some areas. ”
The Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance, the industry group negotiating with studios, declined to comment on Friday.
The Actors Guild and the studio began negotiations on June 7, with SAG-AFTRA member states authorizing the strike before talks began.
In an industry that has already seen a significant decline in show and film production, the actors’ strike would exacerbate labor problems. Impressive screenwriters have canceled some productions, leaving studios unable to push unfinished scripts into the development process without screenwriters.
Writers expect the actors to join the strike. That would put the union in a stronger position to negotiate with studios.
The writers failed to achieve such an alliance with the directors’ union, which last week approved a new deal with 87 percent of its members voting in favor. Writers Guild of America leaders say the directors’ deal is part of a “strategy” to “divide and conquer” the various labor unions fighting for higher wages and higher payouts. claimed.
On Tuesday, a large group of actors, including stars such as Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Ms Drescher, wrote to unions to reiterate their willingness to strike.
“We are concerned about the notion that SAG-AFTRA members are willing to make sacrifices that their leaders are not,” the letter said, referring to Drescher’s position within the union. Considering his position, it is somewhat interesting.
Performers will need to address issues such as minimum wages, residuals, casting processes and regulations surrounding artificial intelligence, he added.
“This is an unprecedented tipping point in our industry, and what would normally be considered a good deal is simply not good enough,” the letter reads. “We feel our wages, our technology, our creative freedom, and our union power have all been undermined over the past decade. We need to reverse those trajectories. ”
