Top Hollywood Actors Say They’re “Prepared To Strike” In Letter To SAG-AFTRA
More than 300 actors issued a letter to the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) pushing for the negotiation committee and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to come to a contract agreement by June 30th. According to Rolling Stone, top talent warned leadership of resistance.
Ahead of the memo, SAG-AFTRA president actress Fran Drescher issued a video asserting “extremely productive negotiations” are “laser-focused on all of the crucial issues.”
“We’re standing strong and we are going to achieve a seminal deal,” she said.”
In the note obtained by RL, the signees are clear that although a strike is not the goal, they are prepared to take action against Hollywood studios. The letter comes as The Writers Guild of America counts more than 50 days of its strike against the AMPTP over its own film and TV contract.
“This is not a moment to meet in the middle, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that the eyes of history are on all of us,” reads the letter. “We ask that you push for all the change we need and protections we deserve and make history doing it. If you are not able to get all the way there, we ask that you use the power given to you by us, the membership, and join the WGA on the picket lines. For our union and its future, this is our moment. We hope that, on our behalf, you will meet that moment and not miss it.”
Signatories include Quinta Brunson, Keke Palmer, Amin Joseph, Meryl Streep, Rami Malek, Eva Longoria, Uzo Aduba, Ariana DeBose, Daveed Diggs, Chelsea Handler, Jeremy O. Harris, Natasha Rothwell, Lena Waithe, DeWanda Wise, and more.
Read the full note via Deadline below:
Dear SAG-AFTRA Leadership and Negotiating Committee,
Thank you for your hard work and your leadership navigating through this difficult negotiation in a truly unprecedented time. As SAG-AFTRA members, we’ve been impressed over the last few months by how our leadership outlined the unique stakes of the negotiations and the need for a realignment in our industry. We were glad to see SAG-AFTRA lead the way among the guilds in identifying AI as a threat to our livelihoods that must be addressed right now, a “game changer.” We felt as though you understood how wildly our pay and our residuals have been undermined, how long we’re being held between seasons. We’ve been filled with pride watching the union come together and deliver such an incredibly strong strike authorization vote.
But solidarity demands honesty, and we need to make clear our resolve. A strike brings incredible hardships to so many, and no one wants it. But we are prepared to strike if it comes to that. And we are concerned by the idea that SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not. We hope you’ve heard the message from us. This is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry, and what might be considered a good deal in any other years is simply not enough. We feel that our wages, our craft, our creative freedom, and the power of our union have all been undermined in the last decade. We need to reverse those trajectories. With inflation and continued growth in streaming, we need a seismic realignment of our minimum pay and new media residuals, our exclusivity carveouts, and other terms. We also think it’s absolutely vital that the deal restore dignity to the casting process by regulating how self-tapes are used. This is an enormous problem for working class actors. And especially as regards Artificial Intelligence, we do not believe that SAG-AFTRA members can afford to make halfway gains in anticipation of that more will be coming in three years, and we think it is absolutely vital that this negotiation protects not just our likenesses, but makes sure we are well compensated when any of our work is used to train AI. We want you to know that we would rather go on strike than compromise on these fundamental points, and we believe that, if we settle for a less than transformative deal, the future of our union and our craft will be undermined, and SAG-AFTRA will enter the next negotiation with drastically reduced leverage.
This is not a moment to meet in the middle, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that the eyes of history are on all of us. We ask that you push for all the change we need and protections we deserve and make history doing it. If you are not able to get all the way there, we ask that you use the power given to you by us, the membership, and join the WGA on the picket lines. For our union and its future, this is our moment. We hope that, on our behalf, you will meet that moment and not miss it.
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