The SAG-AFTRA union has informed industry publicists to brace themselves for potential actors strike in Hollywood if negotiations fail with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
“SAG-AFTRA’s National Board has the option to call a strike if the AMPTP won’t agree on a deal that bolsters performer’s careers and ensures their profession remains one that can support a dignified livelihood,” union leaders told PR agencies on Monday.
During a call with the agencies, publicists asked union leaders a variety of questions, such as if their clients would be allowed “sit for panels at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, and if promotional obligations outside the United States would be kosher,” according to Variety.
“It’s understood that call participants included about 140 PR reps from top firms as well as Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator; Ray Rodriguez, the union’s chief contracts officer; and marketing and communications chief Pamela Greenwalt,” noted Variety.
The current contract between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will expire at midnight on July 12 if both parties fail to come to an agreement. One producer told Variety that it “would be a miracle” if an agreement were reached.
Should the actors go on strike, it will likely put the upcoming promotion for Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Mission: Impossible if the union bars actors from speaking about current projects.
The move to strike appears to have support from top-level actors such as Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ben Stiller, and others, all of whom signed a letter late last month endorsing a strike regardless of the consequences.
“A strike brings incredible hardships to so many, and no one wants it. But we are prepared to strike if it comes to that,” the letter said, adding that 2023 became an “unprecedented inflection point in our industry.” Per Rolling Stone, which obtained the letter:
We hope you’ve heard the message from us: This is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry, and what might be considered a good deal in any other years is simply not enough. We feel that our wages, our craft, our creative freedom, and the power of our union have all been undermined in the last decade. We need to reverse those trajectories.
We want you to know that we would rather go on strike than compromise on these fundamental points, and we believe that, if we settle for a less than transformative deal, the future of our union and our craft will be undermined, and SAG-AFTRA will enter the next negotiation with drastically reduced leverage.
The SAG-AFTRA union overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike just a little over a month after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) enacted its own strike, claiming unfair wages and staffing cuts. Some striking writers have further claimed that streaming services have hollowed out the work to such a degree that they now feel like Uber drivers in a gig economy rather than creatives with a career that supports them.
“The streamers don’t care about anything, they think we’re Uber drivers: ‘Come in, do your job, go home, that’s great. You’re free,’” Marjorie David, the vice president of the Writers Guild of America, West, told The Daily Beast.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.