The negotiations could drag on for months, effectively shutting Hollywood down. Here's
what the strike is all about, and what it could mean for the future.
After weeks of buildup, SAG-AFTRA has called a strike, taking its 160,000
film and TV actors out of the studios and into the streets to demand better
conditions and compensation. Coupled with the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike,
now in its 73rd day, this constitutes the first joint strike between the groups since 1960.
"The strike will begin at midnight tonight, and all of us – union members, leadership,
and staff – will be out on the picket lines tomorrow morning."
Tension between union members and studio executives had risen in the days leading
up to the official announcement, ever since initial negotiations for a new
long-term contract fell through. Just hours before the decision was made public,
Disney CEO Bob Iger called the possibility of a strike "very disruptive" during an appearance on
CNBC's Squawk Box. Like the WGA, SAG-AFTRA is striking for a number of improvements,
including general compensation raises for working actors, revisions to the residual
payment model in the streaming era, and limitations on A.I. usage moving forward.
Studios and Hollywood executives claim to have made fair offers for a new contract to the union,
but SAG-AFTRA leaders say these offers were far from equitable. The union has cited a
growing disconnect between higher-ups and rank-and-file working actors,
which has led to untenable working conditions for actors outside the Hollywood elite.
"Imagine something coming in and not only like displacing you,
but displacing you with your own work. That's what's at stake."
Speaking in the wake of the strike announcement, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said that
the negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were insulting,
making connections to the larger ongoing labor movement across America in recent months.
"What happens here is important, what's happening to us is happening across all fields of labor."
Drescher went on to say,
"I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty,
that they're losing money left and right, when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their
CEOs. [...] But at some point, you have to say no, we're not going to take it anymore."
According to Drescher, the decision to strike was universally supported by membership, saying,
"We came together in strength and solidarity and unity,
with the largest strike authorization vote in our union's history."
Under the conditions of the strike, no union members will be allowed to work on film or
TV sets; promote current, upcoming, or previous projects; or attend official events in partnership
with the studios, like Comic-Con. That means no premieres either — a fact emphasized when
the cast of Oppenheimer walked away from their London red carpet hours before the announcement.
"The jig is up. You cannot keep being dwindled and marginalized and disrespected and dishonored."
A joint strike with both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA hasn't occurred in over 60 years. The last
time both unions walked out, the entertainment industry looked wildly different than it does now,
which makes the coming months hard to predict. If the Writers Guild strike
thus far is any indication of what's to come, though, it could be a long road.
Drescher and other leaders from both unions have made it clear that their intentions are
large — to reset a growing disparity that has allowed studios to profit while leaving working
actors and writers struggling to make a full-time living. Some industry veterans have been sharing
their actual compensation for major projects in recent days, like She-Hulk writer Cody Ziglar,
who received a residual check for his work on the series' hit Daredevil episode for just $396.
At this point, the studios seem dug in for the near future,
ready to fall back on reality TV and other non-union projects to fill airtime. In May,
ABC announced a fall slate devoid of new scripted programming. But it seems unlikely
that the unions are willing to give up much ground. Drescher used her speech to boil down
the situation to its heart: that the Hollywood business model has changed so fundamentally
in recent years that the SAG-AFTRA contract needs fundamental changes to work within it.
"You share the wealth, because you cannot exist without us."