There’s been a lot of news about workers in the entertainment industry lately, with the latest burst of headlines focusing on SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA is the union that represents most actors when they work on film and television productions in the United States. Currently, the union has unanimously voted to issue a strike order against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the trade group that was formed to represent the studios, broadcast networks, and streaming services in labor negotiations with unions. The consequence of this SAG-AFTRA strike is that nearly all movie and television production featuring live performers will stop until the sides are able to come to an agreement. Actors will also not be allowed to take part in any press or promotional events, such as junkets or red-carpet premieres. SAG-AFTRA members will join the writers that are currently striking for the first time in over 60 years — and it all kicks off at midnight on Thursday, July 13.
If you have questions about the SAG-AFTRA strike, keep reading for a Hollywood labor primer!
How Does SAG-AFTRA Work?
Unions function by gaining leverage through collective bargaining. Currently, the vast majority of actors with any experience on camera are members of SAG-AFTRA. Members of SAG-AFTRA are not permitted to work as performers in any production that does not have an agreement in place with the union. Any project that wants to work with SAG-AFTRA actors — independent films, short films, student films — needs to first go to the union, which will sign one of a handful of pre-existing agreements based on the type of production and the size of the budget. These contracts determine what your actors will be paid, how much they must receive as residuals, and set the rules for how actors must be treated.
Additionally, SAG-AFTRA has an overall contract with the AMPTP, whose members include every major studio and streamer. The contract is renegotiated every three years and determines the quality of most paid acting jobs in the industry. As the expiration date approaches, the negotiating teams for SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP sit down to determine what needs to be updated from one contract to the next, and to work out any disagreements, so that a new contract can be put in place before the old one expires, with no gaps. That’s usually how it ends up going. However, the most recent contract expired on June 30, without a deal in place.
Why Is Everyone in Hollywood Striking Right Now?
If you think that the last few months have been unusually contentious between the entertainment industry’s producers and its workforce, you’re not wrong. The term “hot labor summer” is trending wildly for a reason. The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA), which represents film and television writers, and the Directors Guild of America (DGA), which represents directors, (and assistant directors, and seconds assistant directors, etc), also work on three-year contracts with the AMPTP. And, for many years, the contracts have been synced up so that they all expire back to back to back, beginning with the WGA.
On May 30, the WGA contract expired without a deal; its members went on strike and have been picketing for over two months. Writers are striking because a writing career that provides a sustainable income has become increasingly unattainable. Primarily, this is because streaming services, which are able to pay less under the current agreements, now make up a bigger share of the industry. The WGA has a tradition of being ready to strike. The last major strike in the entertainment industry was also a writers’ strike, in 2008, and the WGA got close again in 2017. However, streaming has been extremely disruptive for everyone in the industry, and so there has been hope that, with the WGA leading the way, the DGA and SAG-AFTRA might soon join them on the picket line for a “triple strike.”
Ahead of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA’s leadership called for a strike authorization vote. A strike authorization, if approved by a majority vote of all members, gives the negotiating team the power to call for a strike if they feel that it’s the best way to get a fair deal. Unions tend to hold these votes when negotiations aren’t going well (that’s how it went down between the AMPTP and WGA). Calling for a strike authorization before negotiations even begin is a strong sign that the union is prepared to be firm in its demands. Were the authorization vote to pass by a wide margin, it would show the AMPTP that membership is ready to make the short-term sacrifices that a strike requires, and that the need to improve industry labor practices for the long term is that strong. On June 3, the votes were counted, and SAG-AFTRA members had voted 97.6% in support of strike authorization.
What Is SAG-AFTRA Asking For From the AMPTP?
While specifics are unknown, communications from within SAG-AFTRA have stressed the need for better pay, stronger contributions to the union’s pension and health fund, and residuals from streaming services to be brought in line with those traditionally paid out by theatrical and broadcast productions. The union is also seeking greater regulation of “self-taped auditions,” which have become an industry norm. Rather than come to a casting room and be recorded, hopeful actors are now being asked to record themselves, placing a burden on actors who need to supply the recording equipment and find their own scene partner.
Finally, there is the question of AI. A future where creative workers are replaced by generative AI feels closer than ever, and actors may be at the most risk. Voiceover actors are already reporting competition from AI-generated performances. On social media, support for the entertainment unions is strong (as it is in the streets), but videos that use AI voiceover in place of actors still go viral, with no real sense of contradiction. Sandwiched between the WGA and SAG-AFTRA contract negotiations, the DGA sat down with the AMPTP and actually came away with a deal, which their membership has already voted to approve. (The DGA has only gone on strike once, so this wasn’t unexpected.) Criticism of that deal has focused on the loopholes in the protection it provides against directors having their work diluted by AI.
What Happened Leading Up to the SAG-AFTRA Strike?
The June 30 deadline has passed, but the negotiating team initially agreed to extend talks until July 12. A strike has been authorized, but the union was not obligated to call for one. A video released by SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher — yes, that Fran Drescher — was meant to encourage members that negotiations were going well. To many, it raised concerns that the negotiating team might accept a deal that was only halfway there. A letter was then sent by members to SAG-AFTRA leadership, reasserting that actors are “prepared to strike” and expressing alarm that “SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.” It was signed by hundreds of members, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, and Quinta Brunson.
A divide between union leadership and rank-and-file members is not unheard of. In 2021, IATSE, the union that represents many behind-the-camera workers, kicked off the labor uprising by voting to authorize a strike. But the strike never happened, as the IATSE negotiating team accepted a tentative agreement that, while it had some gains, was only narrowly approved by the membership. (In fact, a majority voted against the deal, but as in many American institutions, some votes count more than others.) Some IATSE members felt that their leadership didn’t represent them well at that moment.
A schism between members and leaders is the worst result, as worker movements live or die by solidarity. However, SAG-AFTRA leadership seems to be back on the same page with their members, and the most recent news shows that they’ve sent survey cards to every member, asking how they feel they can best contribute to a potential picket line. The last time actors and writers went on strike at the same time was in 1960, and they were able to win a residual system that helped sustain an entertainment industry “middle class” for generations. A similar victory today could help inspire a whole new generation of workers to stand together and demand what they deserve.
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