SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14, 2023. Instead of striking a deal, the AMPTP walked out of the negotiation and claimed that the gap between themselves and SAG-AFTRA “is too great.” Despite these claims from the AMPTP, the actors are resilient and remain on strike.
Some of the actors’ demands involve the protection of the likeness of actors regarding the use of AI, as well as an increase in the minimum wage for actors. A-listers George Clooney, Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, and Ben Affleck among others, have proposed solutions to Fran Drescher to help SAG-AFTRA. They proposed to raise the cap on membership dues for the highest earners in the union, saying the money would trickle down and increase funding for benefits.
Although Drescher agreed that this was a generous proposal, she reminded the AMPTP that this isn’t the solution and that it’s actually prohibited by Federal labor law for the top earners to shoulder the responsibility of pension and healthcare benefits, and it is the responsibility of their employers to do this. But it seems that AMPTP is putting up a fight by using tactics they once did on the WGA by making a counter-offer that was worth less than what was initially offered to the SAG-AFTRA in July. To date, the AMPTP has not ceded to any of the demands that the guild proposed, even minimal protections for performers regarding AI.
Drescher also claims that the AMPTP is sowing division among SAG-AFTRA and that their proposals are being misrepresented in the media despite having already tailored them to the concerns of AMPTP. They’ve already modified their revenue-sharing demand, but the AMPTP still claimed that the negotiations were going nowhere productive. This is a familiar pattern for the AMPTP, as it suspended negotiations before with the WGA for a prolonged period in a bid to prey on the desperation of union members. The fight continues for SAG-AFTRA until they’re given a satisfactory deal.
(featured image: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
