SAG-AFTRA is beginning to bargain with the major studios on Monday, as it looks to improve on AI and streaming residual terms won during the 2023 strike.
As is customary, the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are observing a media blackout so as to avoid negotiating in public.
The talks typically begin with an exchange of proposals and then several days of study. On Saturday, the SAG-AFTRA national board met and unanimously approved the union’s proposal package.
Before formulating the proposals, the union held several weeks of “wages and working conditions” meetings to solicit members’ views. SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin has also spent the last few months talking with members about the decline in jobs and other issues.
“This negotiations package is rooted in those conversations,” Astin said over the weekend. “As we begin bargaining with the AMPTP, we do so united, prepared and focused on securing protections that reflect the realities of today’s industry and the value our members bring to it every day.”
SAG-AFTRA is set to bargain with the AMPTP through March 6, with the possibility that it could extend for a few days beyond that if progress is being made. If the two sides cannot reach a deal by then, they would return to the table after negotiations with the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America this spring.
The SAG-AFTRA contract expires June 30. In 2023, the union obtained protections around the use of AI to alter or create an actor’s performance. But the union won very little protection against “synthetic performers” that bear no resemblance to anyone in particular. The union is looking to enhance those protections. Other issues include streaming residuals, self-taped auditions and health benefits.
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From Variety US