SAG-AFTRA sets date to continue negotiations as last holdout in Hollywood

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will meet with studios to negotiate on Oct. 2.

On Sunday, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — which represents Amazon/MGM, Apple, NBCUniversal, Disney/ABC/Fox, Netflix, Paramount/CBS, Sony, and Warner Bros. — reached a deal with the Writers Guild of America. It had been on strike for 145 days. A week later, the AMPTP will set its sights on negotiating with SAG-AFTRA, which will have had its 160,000 members on strike for 79 days.

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“We appreciate the incredible displays of solidarity and support from all of you over the last 76 days of this strike,” the union wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We urge you to continue coming out to the picket lines in strength and big numbers every day! One day longer. One day stronger.”

The AMPTP successfully negotiated with the Directors Guild of America without inciting a strike. The bargaining period that resulted in an agreement with the WGA took five consecutive days. On Monday, along with the AMPTP’s negotiators, executives from these studios will be present.

Additionally, SAG-AFTRA voted to strike against its Interactive Media Agreement, which includes the following video game companies: Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices International, Electronic Arts, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Epic Games, Take 2 Productions, VoiceWorks Productions, and WB Games. The two have been in negotiations since October of last year, and Thursday will be the last day of their fifth round of bargaining, which was three days. SAG-AFTRA is prepared to strike at the end of the day should it not reach an agreement.

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“We will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement that reflects the important contributions of SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in video games,” Audrey Cooling, spokeswoman for the video game producers party to the Interactive Media Agreement, told the Washington Examiner. “We have reached tentative agreements on over half of the proposals and are optimistic we can find a resolution at the bargaining table.”

Negotiations with the AMPTP and Interactive Media Agreement revolve around increased wages, protections against artificial intelligence, and safety precautions.