After 118 days of being on the picket lines, SAG-AFTRA leaders announced on November 8, that they had approved a tentative agreement with the major studios. The months-long strike affected thousands of workers and crippled much of the Los Angeles entertainment industry.
The SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee, in a message to members said, “we have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers. Many thousands of performers now and into the future will benefit from this work.”
While the terms of the agreement have not yet been made public, the committee said the three-year deal was “valued at over $1 billion.”
SAG-AFTRA members walked out on July 14, joining members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and launching the twin strikes, the first in the industry since 1960. WGA members spent more than four months on the picket lines before reaching a new contract agreement in early September.
Both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes exposed industry fears regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The two unions worried AI could be used to create digital replicas of performers, augment script writing, or replace actual actors in the background of projects. The shift to streaming was also at the forefront of both strikes. WGA writers and SAG-AFTRA members said they have been losing income and residuals as the popularity of streaming services have grown.
In its statement announcing the end of the strike, SAG-AFTRA said that the agreement would protect members from the threat of AI, and for the first time establish a streaming participation bonus.
WGA’s deal also included provisions placing guardrails around the use of generative AI.
