SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has officially declared that it is on strike.
Variety reports that the strike begins at midnight, while union members will be able to join the WGA‘s picket lines tomorrow morning on Friday, July 14. As a result, productions that are part of the SAG-AFTRA TV and film contract must stop immediately. This is the second time that actors have gone on strike alongside writers, with the previous instance occurring in 1960.
National executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA Duncan Crabtree-Ireland stated that “Union members should withhold their labor until a fair contract can be achieved. They have left us with no alternative.”
“We are being victimized by a very greedy enterprise,” Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA president stated during the press conference today. “At some point you have to say ‘no, we’re not going to take this anymore. You people are crazy. What are you doing? Why are you doing this?’ … The entire business model has been changed by streaming and A.I. If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in jeopardy. You cannot change the business model as much as it has been changed and not expect the contract to change too.”
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers released a statement about the strike, which reads:
“A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life. The Union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.”
