Posts tagged SAG-AFTRA
Hollywood stars, unions and fans erupt with outrage after ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel off air
September 21, 2025 // The outrage over ABC’s decision spilled over into the streets on Thursday, as members of WGA rallied outside Disney Studios in Burbank, California, as part of a protest co-organized with the group Burbank Against ICE. The protesters carried signs that read “Defend Free Speech” and “ABC Bends the Knee to Fascism” as they walked the sidewalks to the sound of approving car horns on Alameda Boulevard. WGA President Meredith Steihm said she was at a members meeting Wednesday night when news of Disney’s decision to pull the show began to spread. “This felt like a siren last night,” Steihm said. “We put a statement out, but the question was ‘What are we going to do?’ The first thing we did was gather here.”
SAG-AFTRA Confronts a Fran-less Future
August 21, 2025 // But now, with another tough contract negotiation on the horizon, SAG-AFTRA is going to have to push forward without its erstwhile leader from Queens. This time around, Drescher has decided against running for president. In her place, another celebrity, Lord of the Rings and Rudy star Sean Astin, and a rank-and-file performer, New England Local board member Chuck Slavin, are battling it out for the job. The stakes are high, given that the candidates face a darker and more foreboding landscape than the one that even Drescher confronted when she entered office in 2021 during the pandemic.
SAG-AFTRA Reaches Tentative Contract Deal With Video Game Companies After Nearly a Year on Strike
June 11, 2025 // With the strike, the union took a stand against proposed AI terms that leaders claimed would have allowed companies to undercut members and their position in the workplace.
SAG-AFTRA Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge Over Darth Vader AI Voice in ‘Fortnite’
May 20, 2025 // The union claims that Llama Productions failed to notify the labor group and negotiate when it began employing a James Earl Jones voice that replaced the work of members.
SAG-AFTRA Strike Continues: Union Sounds Alarm on AI Exploitation
March 17, 2025 // One key concern is that companies could use past recordings to generate AI performances without consent. Actors also fear losing control over their digital likenesses and demand fair pay across multiple projects. Without stricter regulations, performers risk being replaced by AI entirely. The industry's proposal includes wage increases and AI usage terms, but SAG-AFTRA argues they don't go far enough. If accepted as is, the deal could allow studios to replicate an actor's voice indefinitely – without further payment. Worse still, companies may not even be required to inform performers when their AI-generated voice is being used. This could lead to a future where human performances are sidelined, making traditional acting careers unsustainable.
Fearing AI will take their jobs, California workers plan a long battle against tech
January 19, 2025 // More than 200 trade union members and technologists gathered in Sacramento this week at a first-of-its-kind conference to discuss how AI and other tech threatens workers and to strategize for upcoming fights and possible strikes. The Making Tech Work for Workers event was convened by University of California labor centers, unions, and worker advocates and attracted people representing dock workers, home care workers, teachers, nurses, actors, state office workers, and many other occupations.
One-day strikes are in: Why unions are keeping it short on the picket line
December 4, 2024 // When it comes to getting employers to cave to demands, the success of one-day strikes is mixed — especially for those low-wage, low-leverage workers. Short work stoppages failed to unionize Walmart in the 2010s, along with those fast food workers from Fight for 15. Starbucks and its unionized employees are still negotiating a first contract. Long strikes are still happening — just ask SAG-AFTRA — and probably won’t be phased out entirely because they still carry much more leverage. Instead, one-day strikes often have a different goal in mind that’s still essential for a union victory — getting workers excited.
SAG-AFTRA Files Lawsuit Over Production Skirting Bargaining Agreement By Shooting Overseas
November 26, 2024 // UFO Pictures violated a CBA waiver granted to low-budget productions. The guild is going to court to enforce a $163,000 arbitration award, which the company has failed to pay
Could AI be used to replace striking workers?
November 19, 2024 // Some of the striking workers handle software and data analysis. It wasn’t clear if, without them, the paper’s website would be able to handle what was an expected influx of election-related traffic. Aravind Srinivas, CEO of AI company Perplexity, responded on X to Sulzberger’s statements, saying that his company was “on standby to help ensure your essential coverage is available to all through the election.” The tech workers’ strike ended after a week (though without a contract resolution), and there were no reported website outages. But the offer from Srinivas struck many as a way to undercut the union’s power and compromise workers’ ability to fight for better labor conditions. Replies to his comment called him a “scab” (a term for someone who crosses a picket line and replaces striking workers).
Texas Public Radio employees seek to unionize amid leadership transition
November 15, 2024 // The staff says they seek transparency, improved pay, a “structured onboarding process,” opportunities for career growth, and “protection to openly share our concerns and hopes for the future of TPR.”