SAG-AFTRA & WGA To Hold “National Day Of Solidarity” Rally On Tuesday

David Robb
·2 min read
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UPDATED with latest expected attendees: SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles Local and the Writers Guild of America will hold a “National Day of Solidarity” rally Tuesday outside Disney Studios.

“SAG-AFTRA and WGA will join forces with the AFL-CIO and its affiliates from across the nation and across industries for a National Day of Solidarity,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement. “In this ‘Summer of Strikes,’ working Americans everywhere are fighting for fair contracts, better compensation, safe working conditions and protections from encroaching technology. Together, we are showing corporate America that when we fight, we win!”

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SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14, and the Writers Guild since May 2. The rally will start Tuesday at 10 am PT.

Among those scheduled to speak at the rally include SAG-AFTRA Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Yvonne Wheeler.

Others scheduled to attend include writer-director Aaron Sorkin and fellow The West Wing alums Allison Janney, Dulé Hill, Bradley Whitford, Josh Malina, Richard Schiff, Melissa Fitzgerald, Mary McCormack and Kathleen York; WGA West board member Liz Alper; Directors Guild of America Secretary-Treasurer Paris Barclay; SAG-AFTRA Executive Vice President Ben Whitehair; Teamsters Local 399 chief executive officer Lindsay Dougherty; Laborers Local 724 Business Manager/Secretary-Treasurer Alex Aguilar Jr.; American Federation of Musicians Local 47 President Stephanie O’Keefe; Burbank Mayor Konstantine Anthony; and actors Kerry Washington and Sean Astin.

Crabtree-Ireland told reporters last week that “we remain very eager to get back to the table with the AMPTP, as we’ve said every day” since the actors’ strike began. “We have been ready, willing and able to continue bargaining with them and we very much want the AMPTP to come back to the table.”

SAG-AFTRA has said that key issues in its strike include “economic fairness, residuals, regulating the use of artificial intelligence and alleviating the burdens of the industry-wide shift to self-taping.”

The WGA, after four straight days of bargaining last week, will resume negotiations this week with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. It’s chief strike issues include pay raises, viewership-based streaming residuals, the “preservation of the writers’ room” through minimum staffing and guaranteed days of employment, and guardrails against the use of artificial intelligence to write scripts.

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