Will they strike, or won’t they? For many key players in the entertainment landscape, the uncertainty around SAG-AFTRA’s contract talks for its TV and theatrical agreements is top of mind currently. Especially as the already-extended deadline for negotiations looms large. Blake & Wang P.A’s Brandon Blake, our entertainment attorney and local industry expert, looks more closely at where we stand so far.
Deadline Extension
The original deadline for contract negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the largest of the streamers and studios was June 30. This was extended a few weeks ago until July 12 at midnight. And with no update in sight, it seems like this one, too, may go to the wire.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it will fail. While the WGA voted to embark on strike action after its own negotiations failed on May 1, we have also seen the DGA manage to make a (quite literally) last minute deal for their contract renegotiations shortly afterwards. However, it does seem that SAG-AFTRA are in agreement on strike action should the contract negotiations fail by the extended deadline. Should they, too, head to the picket lines, this would be the first time we’ve seen them target major companies in about 40 years.
Extension, Not Weakness
The union’s negotiators were keen to emphasize that the extension was ‘not a sign of weakness’, but rather intended to give some breathing room to the unusually short timeframe for renegotiation as it originally stood. Talks for renegotiation only opened on June 7, and with a wealth of issues to tackle, including wage floors, the thorny issue of AI, controversies over self-taped auditions and the usual eye towards pension, retirement, and health coverage, the need for more negotiating time is easy to understand.
With 98% of voting members authorizing strike action if a deal cannot be struck, it’s clear that union members want not just a ‘good’ deal, but one which can honestly be called transformative. Whether they will get it, or whether we will see actors join their writer counterparts on the picket line, remains to be seen.
Film and Television 