SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee has approved a tentative deal with the major studios that would end a nearly four-month-long strike that has sidelined thousands of workers and hobbled much of Los Angeles’ signature entertainment industry.
The vote came Wednesday after a tense week. SAG-AFTRA leaders worked feverishly for days to improve terms of the proposed labor contract offered by the media companies, which bargain through the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
“In a unanimous vote this afternoon, The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee approved a tentative agreement with the AMPTP bringing an end to the 118 day strike,” the union said Wednesday in a statement. “The strike officially ends at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, November 9.”
SAG-AFTRA did not immediately disclose details of the agreement, saying those would be released after the contract is reviewed Friday by the guild’s national board.
The proposed contract — which also still must be ratified by the union’s members — is expected to boost minimum pay for members, increase residual payments for shows streamed online and bolster contributions to the union’s health and pension plans. It also establishes new rules for the use of artificial intelligence, a major source of concern for actors.
In a statement, the AMPTP hailed the agreement as a “new paradigm,” saying it gives SAG-AFTRA “the biggest contract-on-contract gains in the history of the union, including the largest increase in minimum wages in the last forty years; a brand new residual for streaming programs; extensive consent and compensation protections in the use of artificial intelligence; and sizable contract increases on items across the board.”
The final days of bargaining were filled with drama. Studio chiefs on Friday presented what they called their “last, best and final” offer, which the executives said addressed the guild’s demands. The two sides met Saturday afternoon to go over the…
Read the full article here
