After weeks of negotiations, the SAG-AFTRA union has voted to declare a strike effective as of July 13, 2023.
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The board of SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors in film and television, has unanimously voted to strike beginning at 12:01am Pacific on July 14. Actors will need to walk off their sets effective at that time. They will also be barred from doing any promotional work at the behest of the studios.
This marks the first time in over 60 years that the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA have gone on strike. The WGA has been on strike since May 2 of this year, and there haven’t been any signs of restarting talks. This has meant that no writing has taken place on any television series or movies in over two months, and won’t be restarting any time soon.
Negotiations were conducted with companies such as Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBC Universal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, and Warner Bros. Discovery under the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) umbrella. Some of the larger issues that SAG-AFTRA are looking to address include more transparency from streaming companies about the number of views projects receive, the situation with royalties surrounding streaming projects, the rise of AI, and many more.
The original strike deadline was set for June 30, but a two-week extension was granted by SAG-AFTRA that expired at midnight on July 12.
During a press conference conducted on Thursday afternoon, SAG-AFTRA said they stand ready to restart talks, but they do not feel those will be commencing any time soon.
