Actors and Studios Reach Tentative Agreement, Ending Historic Strike
After a long, hard fight, SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have reached a tentative agreement, according to several sources.
The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee reportedly approved the agreement in a unanimous vote on Wednesday. SAG-AFTRA announced that the strike will end at 12:01 am Thursday.
Then, on Friday, the deal will go to the union’s national board for approval. As long as the board signs off on the deal, eligible members of the actors guild will vote to ratify the new agreement. It’s similar to the process we saw from the WGA in September.
Negotiations have been ongoing over the past several days, with the key sticking point being the use of Artificial Intelligence. Other issues the union has been fighting for include a minimum rate increase in the contract’s first year, new ground rules for self-taped virtual auditions, and increases to health and pension contribution caps.
The union has yet to reveal all the details of the new deal. Still, it is reported to include the first-ever protections for actors against artificial intelligence and a historic pay increase.
The AMPTP delivered its “last, best, and final” offer last Friday, and SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee spent 12 hours on Sunday developing its response. Long hours of deliberations continued through Wednesday.
Excerpt from the message from SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee that went out to members:
We are thrilled and proud to tell you that today your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. As of 12:01am PT on Nov. 9, our strike is officially suspended and all picket locations are closed. We will be in touch in the coming days with information about celebration gatherings around the country.
In a contract valued at over one billion dollars, we have achieved a deal of extraordinary scope that includes “above-pattern” minimum compensation increases, unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI, and for the first time establishes a streaming participation bonus. Our Pension & Health caps have been substantially raised, which will bring much needed value to our plans. In addition, the deal includes numerous improvements for multiple categories including outsize compensation increases for background performers, and critical contract provisions protecting diverse communities.
When preparing to strike in July, Fran Drescher, President of SAG-AFTRA and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator, said the following in a statement to members:
“After more than four weeks of negotiations, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — the entity that represents major studios and streamers, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, and Warner Bros Discovery — remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on the key issues that you told us are important to you. Because of this, we’ve called for a meeting with our National Board this morning to vote on a strike order.”
“As you know, over the past decade, your compensation has been severely eroded by the rise of the streaming ecosystem. Furthermore, artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to creative professions, and all actors and performers deserve contract language that protects them from having their identity and talent exploited without consent and pay. Despite our team’s dedication to advocating on your behalf, the AMPTP has refused to acknowledge that enormous shifts in the industry and economy have had a detrimental impact on those who perform labor for the studios.”
The actors strike has lasted 118 days. It is now the longest strike in the union’s history. The SAG-AFTRA strike coincided with the WGA strike, which ended in September.
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Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.