Posts tagged SAG-AFTRA
The Union You’ve Never Heard Of Is Following A Blueprint You Should Know
May 18, 2026 // In 2021, IATSE members authorized a strike by 98.7%. What followed was four years of increasingly coordinated action across entertainment unions. WGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, and the Teamsters built a solidarity coalition that showed up at each other’s picket lines in 2023, during a 148-day WGA strike and a 118-day counterpart for SAG-AFTRA. During contract negotiations, this coalition has been using pattern bargaining, and “wins” by one union become the baseline for those that follow. Each contract raises the floor for the next negotiation, and whether that method is sustainable for the industry isn’t relevant here. What matters is that other unions are watching, and they love to copycat each other.
WWE Wrestlers To Unionize? Legend Pushes for Strong Response to TKO’s Bold Cost-Cutting
May 14, 2026 // Nash went further by proposing a path forward, pointing to SAG-AFTRA as a model that wrestling talent could realistically pursue, given how closely the production of modern pro wrestling resembles scripted television and film industries that Endeavor Group Holdings already operates within.
Ocean State Media Staff Members Announce Intent To ‘Go Union,’ Join SAG-AFTRA
May 14, 2026 // Staff employed at Ocean State Media - Rhode Island’s NPR and PBS station, have announced their intention to form a Union with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). A majority of Workers - including Hosts, Reporters, And Digital, Audio and Video Producers, have signed a petition to Unionize. Ocean State Media was formed following a merger between The Public’s Radio, Rhode Island’s NPR affiliate, and Rhode Island PBS. The combined organization provides news and cultural coverage on the unique stories of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.
SAG-AFTRA Communications Staffers Attempting to Unionize
March 30, 2026 // The announcement comes as SAG-AFTRA takes a break from negotiations with Hollywood’s top studios and streamers over its next three-year film and television deal, with talks set to resume later this spring. Given that so many staffers in the union touch some part of these negotiations, that timing could improve the leverage of the workers, who are seeking voluntary recognition from their employer rather than an election at the National Labor Relations Board.
Weeks before studio negotiations, the Writers Guild of America’s staff union goes on strike
February 18, 2026 // Last month, the union first authorized a strike, with 82% of its members in favor. The staff union, made up of over 100 workers across legal, communications, residuals and other departments, was formed last spring and contract negotiations began in September. The bargaining has focused on concerns about the growth and use of artificial intelligence, pay raises and “basic protections” like grievance procedures.
Why SAG-AFTRA’s 2026 Contract Talks Matter for Los Angeles and the Business of Hollywood
January 29, 2026 // Artificial intelligence looms as perhaps the most complex issue on the table. Advances in voice replication, digital doubles and performance synthesis have raised concerns that actors’ likenesses could be reused without meaningful consent or compensation. Astin characterized AI as an immediate labor issue rather than a speculative one, particularly in a market like Los Angeles, where background performers, day players and voice actors form a large part of the workforce.
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.