The basic premise of Actors’ strike which took Hollywood by storm was to fight for better wages and protections against AI, among other issues. The negotiations of SAG-AFTRA with the studios began a while back, but they weren’t fruitful. The later meetings between the two parties were becoming increasingly tense as the studios refused to agree to the guild’s terms and even threatened to push talks to 2024. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. The SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee approved a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, ending the dual 2023 Hollywood strikes. However, this was a temporary deal, there was nothing official. Almost a month after this announcement, we finally have the official confirmation on the matter.
SAG-AFTRA Strike Has Officially Ended!
After a lot of struggle the Actors’ strike has ended yesterday. SAG-AFTRA members voted to ratify the strike ending contract presented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) back in November. The vote was successful as on Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA issued a statement announcing that the 2023 TV/Theatrical Agreement had officially been approved with the new, multi-year contracts covering television, theatrical, and streaming production. The vote was 78.33 percent to 21.87 percent with an overall voting turnout of 38.15 percent. The new contract is retroactive to June 9th and will run through June 30, 2026.
“This contract is an enormous victory for working performers, and it marks the dawning of a new era for the industry. Getting to this point was truly a collective effort,” union president Fran Drescher and national executive director Duncan Crabtree Ireland said in a joint statement.
“SAG-AFTRA members have remained incredibly engaged throughout this process, and I know they’ll continue their advocacy throughout our next negotiation cycle,” Drescher added. “This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful.”
Some major provisions have been added in this new three-year contract. It is valued at $1 billion by the Actors’ union. The contract raises minimum wages by 7 percent in the first year and then 4 percent and 3.5 percent in subsequent years. As suspected the contract also adds new guidelines in the use of artificial intelligence (A.I.), one of the major topics during negotiations. Read the changes below:
“We were engaged in a very serious fight with the companies over what was going to happen with respect to the use of generative A.I. to create what we call ‘synthetic fake performers,'” Crabtree-Ireland explained previously. “And what the result of that is that number one, we have a provision that requires the companies to get the consent of performers whose facial features are used as part of the creation of such a synthetic — even if it’s more than one performer, even if it’s only a part of those recognizable facial features. Number two, the companies are obligated to give us notice anytime that they use generative AI to create a synthetic fake performer, so we’ll know about it. And number three, the union has the right to bargain over compensation on behalf of those people, in the event that the companies create any kind of synthetic fake performer. So that was the piece that ultimately came together on the very last day on day 118 of the strike. And with that piece added to everything else I mentioned, we feel that there is a robust and comprehensive set of protections for our members against the implementation of A.I. in the industry. It allows the industry to go forward. It does not block A.I., but it makes sure that the rights to consent are protected, the rights to fair compensation, and the rights to employment for protected.”
The SAG AFTRA Strike began on 14th July midnight and has officially ended yesterday, December 5th.
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