Actors union goes on strike after contract negotiations fail
BOSTON - The entertainment industry will effectively come to a halt at midnight as actors will join writers on the picket line.
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors on TV and in movies, voted to go on strike Thursday after failing to come to a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
This means for the first time since the 1960's, both writers and actors unions will be on strike at the same time.
The union is asking for better pay, stronger residuals and for those residuals to apply to streaming content, along with better protections for actors when it comes to AI.
"It is a very serious thing that impacts thousands, if not millions, of people around the world," said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, best known for her role in the hit sitcom The Nanny. "The eyes of the world and the eyes of labor are upon us. What happens here is important because what is happening to us is happening across all fields of labor. When employers make Wall Street and greed their priority, and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run, we have a problem."
Michael Ryan is a professor at Emerson College and a member of SAG-AFTRA. Ryan said, "We are going to see a massive real shutdown of production even more so than what it has been."
Ryan suggested the filming schedule for the fall will have implications for what might air the following year. The ripple effects could be felt for months. "When you look at September not being an active shooting time, then we are going to see that ripple into what would be the fall and spring scheduled, a lot would be impacted," he said.
Kay Hanley was raised in Dorchester and shot to fame as the lead singer of the band 'Letters to Cleo' and now works as a composer in TV animation. Hanley is a member of SAG-AFTRA and said this strike would better the pay and working conditions of those who need it.
"I am a working mother. I am a middle-class working mother. This is how I make a living," said Hanley. "It cannot be overstated that most workers in this industry are me, working parents, who are just working to keep the lights on. I feel so lucky to get to do this. I don't need to be appreciated for it, but it is skilled labor and I do need to get paid for it."
AMPTP released a statement Thursday that read in part:
"This is the Union's choice, not ours. In doing so, it has dismissed our offer of historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors' digital likenesses, and more."
