American actors union votes to strike

Members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted on Monday to go on strike in case negotiations with film studios, TV stations and streaming services over a new working conditions agreement do not bring the desired result.

“In strong solidarity, 97.91% of SAG-AFTRA members voted to allow the strike ahead of TV/theatre contract negotiations,” reads the message SAG-AFTRA. Almost 65 thousand members of the organization took part in the voting, which is 47.69% of the number of eligible voters.

SAG-AFTRA is due to enter into negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Wednesday, June 7th. The union will press AMPTP to improve working conditions, increase wages and fees, and provide a guarantee that actors will not be replaced by artificial intelligence in the future.

Similar demands were put forward by the American Screenwriters Guild at the beginning of this year. Her negotiations with film studios and television companies were unsuccessful, and therefore union members began on May 2 an indefinite strikewhich is still ongoing.

The day before it became knownthat the Directors Guild of America (DGA) was able to reach an agreement with AMPTP. The full text of the agreement between the parties will be published later, after the extraordinary meeting of the DGA board, which will be held on Tuesday, June 6. But even from the excerpts cited in the press release of the guild, it is clear that film studios and streaming companies have satisfied all the key requirements of directors.

Kirill Sarkhanyants