SAG-AFTRA’s national board voted unanimously today to recommend that the union’s members authorize a strike in advance of its upcoming negotiations for a new film and TV contract.
“In anticipation of the union’s forthcoming TV/Theatrical Contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which begin June 7, the SAG-AFTRA National Board agreed unanimously to recommend that its members vote to authorize a strike,” the guild said in a statement posted on its website.
“An affirmative vote does not mean a strike would necessarily happen, but it would allow the National Board to call one if deemed necessary during the negotiations process,” the union added. “The action comes following a unanimous agreement by the TV/Theatrical negotiating committee that the strike authorization would give the union maximum bargaining leverage as it enters this round of negotiations with the AMPTP. SAG-AFTRA represents more than 160,000 entertainment and media professionals.”
“It was the most solidarity that I’ve seen in a long, long time,” said a board member after the meeting. “To get 100% of this board to agree on something shows that we are united.”
SAG-AFTRA hasn’t struck the film and TV industry since the merger of SAG and AFTRA in 2012. Their last strike against the studios was in 1980 — a 95-day walkout that established contract terms for pay-TV and videocassettes.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher wrote today: “For the first time in a very long time, our member leadership stands in solidarity at the negotiating committee and the National Board levels on moving forward with a strike authorization. We must get all our ducks in a row should the need present itself. The prospect of a strike is not a first option, but a last resort. As my dad always says, ‘Better to have and not need than to need and not have!’ Therefore, I implore eligible members to follow the leads of both the negotiating committee and the National Board with an unprecedented show of solidarity and make three a charm with an emphatic ‘yes’ for a strike authorization vote!”
Said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the guild’s national executive director and chief negotiator: “Strike authorization sends an important message during the negotiations process. A ‘yes’ vote gives the National Board the power to call a strike if the AMPTP does not negotiate fairly in our upcoming bargaining. This will be a seminal negotiation that will determine the future of what it means to be a working performer. We must be ready to fight to secure a meaningful deal for our members.”
In its statement, the guild said: “Earning a living as a professional performer has become increasingly difficult, with both inflation and the streaming ecosystem undercutting compensation — all the while, corporate profits and executive pay at studios continue to rise. Add to this the unregulated use of artificial intelligence and the burdens of the industrywide shift to self-tape, the outlook for working actors becomes unsustainable without transformative change.
“A successful strike authorization vote doesn’t initiate a strike. Instead, the strike authorization permits the National Board to declare a strike if the studios and streaming companies fail to negotiate fairly with SAG-AFTRA for the benefit of its members.”
Postcards will be sent to eligible members on May 18 with instructions on how to vote, and voting will close at 5 p.m. PT on June 5.
A strike, if it comes to that, could come until midnight on June 30, when the current contract expires.
The news comes on Day 16 of the Writers Guild strike against the AMPTP. The Directors Guild, meanwhile, began contract negotiations with the AMPTP on May 10.