2023-11-09 07:53:16
The Screen Actors Guild of the United States (SAG-AFTRA) has reached an agreement in principle with the major Hollywood studios and streaming platforms for the signing of a new collective agreement. This marks the end of a strike that has lasted 118 days.
“Our strike has officially ended and all picketing has been suspended (…) We have reached an agreement that will allow SAG-AFTRA members of all categories to build sustainable careers,” the union reported in a statement.
The SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee approved the agreement in a unanimous vote Wednesday and the strike will end at 12:01 a.m. Thursday local time. The agreement still has to be ratified by the union’s board of directors and members, and once that happens the details of the contract that will govern the next three years of employment between SAG-AFTRA and the studios represented by the company will be announced. Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP).
However, the union has announced that they have achieved an agreement “of extraordinary scope” that includes increases in minimum wages, “unprecedented provisions” that will protect interpreters from the threat of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as “the “establishing a participation premium for streaming.”
The studios, for their part, have also celebrated the agreement, calling it a “new paradigm” and assure that they are ready for the “industry to resume the work of telling great stories,” as noted by the AMPTP in another statement.
In the last few hours, the AMPTP had insisted on the actors’ union to make a decision as soon as possible and thus be able to try to save the television season or advance the 2024 film schedule.
Executives from entertainment companies such as Disney, Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix have been involved in the negotiations.
In search of better working conditions
The actors joined the strike held by the American Writers Guild (WGA) on July 14, in search of better working conditions, increases in the financial remuneration that the actors receive when their content is broadcast. in streaming services, as well as regulation in the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The strike of both unions, the first joint strike in 60 years, has affected prominent productions such as the premiere of films ‘Dune: Part Two’, by Denis Villeneuve, it has postponed the awards ceremony such as the Emmys, it has paralyzed the production of films in development such as ‘Gladiator 2’ or ‘Deadpool 3’ and has stopped the promotion of various titles.
“We are excited to see SAG-AFTRA members win an agreement that creates new protections for performers and provides greater participation in the immense value they create. When workers come together, they win,” the WGA wrote in its account of
With the end of the strike, the actors could resume their jobs on Thursday, as well as participate in the promotion of films and television series.
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