hollywood actors’ union strike announcement

One of Hollywood’s top actors’ union announced that it will go on strike on Thursday.

The deadline for Hollywood actors to reach an agreement with major film and television studios had expired earlier in the day.

Union leadership voted to stop work, hours after the contract expired and negotiations ended with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG -AFTRA) at a press conference.

“The strike is an instrument of last resort,” he said.

He added that they unanimously voted for a strike to start at midnight on Thursday, 07:00 GMT.

Shortly after the strike was announced, scriptwriters began chanting “Pay your actors!” outside Netflix.’s Hollywood offices.

US entertainment industry faces major paralysis

This is the first industry-wide shutdown in 63 years, with film and television production at a standstill.

On Wednesday, there were talks with mediators in a last-ditch effort to avoid a second industry strike.

hollywood’America’s largest union has already said it would go on strike if negotiations do not result in a deal by midnight in Los Angeles (07:00 Thursday GMT/UTC).

SAG-AFTRA said its national council would meet on Thursday to vote on a strike.

“After more than four weeks of negotiation, the Film and Television Producers Alliance (AMPTP)…

A-list stars including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep voiced their support for the industrial action.

The strike will mean the stars won’t be able to promote new releases or attend industry events such as Comic-Con, which takes place next week.

The union represents some 160,000 television and radio actors and presenters, as well as other media professionals.

What are SAG-AFTRA’s demands?

The union is demanding higher compensation from streaming services, as well as higher wages to fight inflation.

In addition to wages when they work, actors earn “residue” every time a production they star in is shown on a network or cable.

However, streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ do not release viewership numbers and pay actors the same flat fee regardless of viewership.

SAG-AFTRA is also calling for the implementation of safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Actors want assurances that their digital images will not be used without their permission.

What has happened in these negotiations so far?

On Tuesday, union negotiators agreed to a request by the studio to bring in a federal mediator.

SAG-AFTRA said studio representatives “abuse our trust” by leaking information to the media, adding that there would be no change to the Wednesday night deadline that would trigger a strike.

“We are not confident that the employers have any intention of negotiating a settlement,” the union said in a statement late on Tuesday. “Time is running out.”

Meanwhile, AMPTP said it was disappointed with the failure to reach an agreement. “This is the Union’s choice, not ours. In doing so, it rejected our offer of historic salaries and residual raises, substantially higher limits on pension and health contributions, hearing protections, reduced series option periods, an innovative AI proposition that protects actors’ digital likenesses and more,” AMPTP said in a statement.

He added that instead of continuing negotiations, “SAG-AFTRA has set us on a course that will deepen the financial difficulties of thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods.”

‘double whammy’ will stop almost all productions

Strike threatened by SAG-AFTRA follows similar industry action’s main writers’ Unity.

In early May, the approximately 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike.

This halted most of the fall TV season’s production and filming of some big-budget movies.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said it had offered “generous” pay increases but could not agree to all demands.

SAG-AFTRA’The government shutdown will lead to a “double whammy” not seen in Hollywood since the 1960s and will halt most US film and television productions.

kb,sdi/msh (Reuters, AFP)