To quote style icon Jesus Christ, “It is finished.” As of 12.01AM Thursday, Los Angeles time, the SAG-AFTRA strike will be over. The picket lines, no more.
This news was confirmed by the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the architects of this strike.
“In a unanimous vote this afternoon, the SAG-AFTRA TV and the Theatrical Committee approved a tentative agreement with the AMPTP, bringing an end to the 118 day strike,” SAG-AFTRA wrote.
From July 14 until today, SAG-AFTRA has been at war with the AMPTP, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The AMPTP is an institution that conducts most contract negotiations on behalf of Hollywood’s studios. For ages, these two institutions couldn’t agree on what benefits American actors should get, hence the strike.
SAG-AFTRA were requesting numerous contract-based improvements. The union wanted its members to receive salaries that would rise with inflation, better streaming service residuals, and guarantees that they won’t be replaced by AI.
As it stands, the general public doesn’t know every concession that SAG-AFTRA has scored. However, we do know that its members will receive historic pay increases. Most actor-based minimums will increase by 7%. This increase will be 2% higher than what the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America received.
As per Kevin E West, a member of SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee, his fellow actors have attained some big wins.
“The final vote was unanimous. That’s a difficult thing to accomplish,” West said. “It’s honestly been a really long two weeks.”
The Actors Strike’s Over — So, What’s Next?
As of 12.01AM Thursday, Los Angeles time, Hollywood’s actors will be able to go back to work. However, SAG-AFTRA’s members still have to vote to ratify this agreement. This process typically takes a few weeks.
The actors strike is the second Hollywood strike that’s now officially over this year. The first strike being the Writers Guild of America’s strike, which lasted 148 days.
On October 9, the Writers Guild of America voted to embrace an industrial agreement that drastically improved its member’s wages. According to the Guild, American-based scriptwriters are now receiving higher salaries and more equitable streaming service residuals.
The Writers Guild of America is very pleased with its agreement, it’s a symbol of good things to come.
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