THR Photo Illustration/Fraser Harrison/Getty Images
There are SAG-AFTRA members It voted to ratify the tentative agreement that ended the 118-day actors’ strike.
In the contest that ended on Tuesday evening, 78.33 percent voted “yes” to the agreement and 21.67 percent voted “no,” with 38.15 percent voting. The new deal will now come into effect on June 9 and will be extended until June 30, 2026, with members greenlighting the deal.
“This agreement is a huge win for working people and marks the dawn of a new era for the industry. It has truly been a joint effort to get to this point,” union president Fran Drescher and national executive director Duncan Crabtree Ireland said in a joint statement to members on Tuesday night.
In her own statement, Drescher said, “SAG-AFTRA members have been incredibly engaged throughout this process, and I know they will continue their advocacy throughout our next negotiation cycle. It’s a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been stronger.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represented top Hollywood studios and streamers in the negotiations, congratulated SAG-AFTRA in its own statement Tuesday night. The organization said the new deal represents “historic gains and protections for artists.” “With this vote, the industry and the jobs it supports can come back full force.”
The new three-year contract values the union at more than $1 billion, more than triple the union’s value. 2020 deal, raises minimum wage rates by 7 percent in the first year of the agreement, and by 4 percent and 3.5 percent in subsequent years. The agreement establishes new safeguards for the use of artificial intelligence, describes times when consent and indemnification are required, creates success-based streaming bonuses and establishes new rules for virtual interviews and auditions and self-tapes. The union raised contribution “caps” for its pension and health plans and, for the first time, included unionized workers in its contract to include performance-based jobs.
Expectations for gains from the deal were high, the result of a nearly four-month strike that coincided with the Writers Guild of America’s 148-day strike, a moment of extraordinary leverage for both unions. According to a November estimate by the Milken Institute, the strike caused a $6 billion hit to the California economy. Tentpole images moved – etc The Hill: Part Two And Deadpool 3 – and popular series like Netflix Stranger things were delayed.
In the weeks before the results of the ratification vote were published, debate erupted among union members online about the AI safeguards included in the agreement. Some felt the union’s first attempt at regulating the emerging technology was insufficient, specifically not banning the use of “artists” or using programs to train AI tools or requiring scans and copies as a condition of employment. Others, meanwhile, hoped the same contract would adequately protect members for the next two and a half years until the union renegotiated with the studios.
In her statement Tuesday night, Crabtree-Ireland noted, “In any democratic organization, there will sometimes be disagreements. But no one should mistake the robust debate and democracy within SAG-AFTRA for a lack of unity in our purpose or mission: to protect and advance the cause of SAG-AFTRA members, now and then.” Always.
Voting for ratification was conducted online and by postal ballot, with integrity voting systems certifying the results.
