Discussion on SAG-AFTRA contract continues to end 100-plus day strike
Oct 25, 2023
Washington DC [US], October 25 : Negotiations on a new Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) contract continued on Wednesday, as the studios aim to salvage the 2024 summer box office and end 100-plus day strike, reported Variety.
For the first time in nearly two weeks, the union resumed bargaining on Tuesday. The studios made a new offer on the most contentious topic, streaming residuals, in the hopes of breaking the impasse that has led to a 103-day strike.
In a memo to members on Tuesday evening, SAG-AFTRA offered a brief update on the talks.
"Today, the CEOs came back to the table. We are scheduled to continue talks with them tomorrow," the union stated. "We will continue to provide updates to you directly. Remember - don't believe anything you read in the press unless it comes directly from us. Keep showing up on the picket lines and make your voices heard around the country."
Last week, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers responded to the union on artificial intelligence regulation. The two parties have been unable to reach an agreement on matters such as the minimum remuneration for the use of digital replicas, and the breadth of consent required to allow digital replicas and AI training.
According to Variety, in another week, the combined writers and actors strikes will have lasted six months. The studios have made clear they are eager to make a deal in the next week to 10 days if they have any hope of saving the summer movie season and a portion of the 2023-24 TV season. If the strike runs into November, the fear is that more film releases will be delayed and there will be little chance of producing even half a season of network TV.
The leadership of SAG-AFTRA was buoyed on Saturday, when Disney CEO Bob Iger called Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's top negotiator, to invite the guild back to the table.
However, the union has come under intense pressure in the last week to stop the strike. Several A-list celebrities, led by George Clooney, offered an alternate set of suggestions to union leadership in an attempt to end the strike. However, the union rejected those suggestions, claiming that they would not work.
Zachary Quinto, star of "Star Trek" and "Margin Call," recorded an Instagram video on Monday urging members to support leadership, because "solidarity is the only way we are going to get what we are asking for in this negotiation."
"I know that everyone is tired. I know we've been at this for over 100 days," Quinto said. "But we have got to stay together as a union. Our job as the membership of a union is to support our leadership and to get behind them. If we start calling into question their tactics, their motives -- if we start trying to take matters into our own hands, we are weakening our position and we are playing directly into the desires of the AMPTP. It is exactly what they want -- for us to start to question one other and to question our leadership." Several members of the negotiating committee thanked Quinto for his support, reported Variety.
