Posts tagged SAG-AFTRA
“They’re Scared”: 5,000-Plus Demonstrators Rally in L.A. to Support Writers Strike, Pressure Studios
June 23, 2023 // The event ended with some sharp words from Dougherty, the Teamsters Local 399 leader whose profile has skyrocketed during the strike due to her unwavering support of the writers and the fact that many of her members have refused to cross their picket lines. “The studios and the tech companies wanted to push you guys down and try and break you. But guess what? We’re not gonna let that happen. None of us. No fucking way.” Pointing to the La Brea Tar Pits museum, she called the setting for the rally “fitting,” as it showcases some extinct species and, “I think what we need to do with the AMPTP is make them fucking extinct.”
Hollywood’s hot strike summer
June 13, 2023 // SAG-AFTRA members overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike of its own should it not reach a deal by the end of the month. "We are collaborating together more than we ever had in the past," Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director for SAG-AFTRA, tells Axios. "There are a lot of issues we have in common — and even on issues where we don't — we want to support each other." G/O Media, Ziff Davis, Wirecutter, the Miami Herald, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Palm Springs Desert Sun, the Washington Post, NBC News and others have engaged in strikes or walkouts. Unions at the New Yorker, Vox Media and Wired threatened strikes but ultimately resolved their disputes with management.
Actors guild authorizes strike with contract set to expire at end of month
June 7, 2023 // SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement that some of the union's key concerns are that "inflation, dwindling residuals due to streaming, and generative AI all threaten actors' ability to earn a livelihood if our contracts are not adapted to reflect the new realities." Hollywood writers are currently striking after the Writers Guild of America and ATPMP could not agree on a new contract. WGA officials have also cited AI and a lack of residuals brought about by the streaming era as major sticking points. That strike began on May 2 and could last for months.
Hollywood directors reach labor pact, writers remain on strike
June 5, 2023 //
Opinions | The WGA strike is part of a recurring pattern when technology changes
May 31, 2023 // Once again, writers and other workers in Hollywood are facing technological change, this time regarding the use of artificial intelligence in projects covered by the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA). The WGA has proposed that any MBA material be produced by a person, with writing credits to a human, and that no AI be used in the production of literary material for a film. The goal is to secure the jobs and pay of writers, with both initial minimum payments during production and residuals for back-end exhibition. The WGA, which has stronger residuals security and higher payments with studios than with streamers, is looking for closer parity, especially with streaming’s rise in popularity since the coronavirus pandemic. Could AI help script a sitcom? Some striking writers fear so. In a recent example of where the agreements have fallen short, Netflix forced the WGA into arbitration by withholding residuals, ultimately owing $64 million in backdated payments while still refusing to shell out $13.5 million in interest.
Writers’ strike week 3: Stars rally at 30 Rock, WGA says strike will cost studios more money than settling
May 24, 2023 // The Writers Guild strike passed the three-week mark on Tuesday, as a large rally dubbed #RallyAtTheRock took place outside NBCUniversal headquarters and featured stars like Mark Ruffalo, Busy Phillips, John Leguizamo and Kal Penn. Even more celebrities, including SNL cast member Sarah Sherman and comedian Jordan Klepper, filled the picket lines and were joined by the Teamsters union, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, Broadway performers and many more.
Writers Guild Issues Rules for Potential Strike: Writing, Pitching and Negotiating for Work Are Barred
April 27, 2023 // Writers are instructed to “inform the Guild of the name of any writer you have reason to believe is engaged in scab writing or other strikebreaking activity.” Writers are obligated to picket as assigned unless they have an accepted medical exception, personal circumstance or other employment. Writers Guild Issues Rules for Potential Strike: Writing, Pitching and Negotiating for Work Are Barred
Hollywood shows unions how to let workers shine
March 12, 2023 // Entertainment unions such as SAG-AFTRA, on the other hand, set only a salary floor. Many sports unions take a similar approach. Members can expect a minimum salary but, from there, can negotiate higher pay depending upon their unique talents and ability to draw an audience. “Nothing,” the general contract for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists reads, will prevent a performer from “negotiating and obtaining better conditions and terms of employment” than those in the union contract. In other words, actors are free to compete for the most competitive terms they can get. Some are paid more for being better at their craft, not simply for logging yet another year on the job. Under this model, people of extraordinary talent are not limited by arbitrary pay limits and workers are motivated to continually sharpen their skills. Granted, the model isn’t perfect. In return for representation, Screen Actors Guild members abide by what’s known as Global Rule One: Union actors won’t work on non-union projects.
‘SNL’ Postproduction Workers Authorize Strike as Contract Negotiations Stall
January 26, 2023 // On Thursday, Jan. 12, the crew of around 20 part-time film editors, editors, assistant editors and media managers voted in a meeting over Zoom to allow their union to order a strike if necessary amid the slow-moving contract talks, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The group, which unionized with the IATSE-affiliated Motion Picture Editors Guild in October, is responsible for postproduction on pretaped sketches, like music videos and commercial parodies, shot before the live show. After the union was voluntarily recognized by NBC management in October, the group has so far only had one bargaining session with NBC, with no additional dates currently scheduled. The Editors Guild sent management a package of proposals in December.
Tech Layoffs Threaten Unions’ Plan to Draw White-Collar Workers
January 18, 2023 // Some 500 technology companies have axed nearly 100,000 workers since last October, according to Layoffs.fyi, a public database of tech layoffs. Amazon this month announced it would cut 18,000 jobs, and on the same day, cloud computing company Salesforce and the online video-sharing service Vimeo said they would slash 10% and 11% of their staffs, respectively. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, said in November it would eliminate 11,000 jobs—about 13% of its staff. Those reductions in force don’t bode well for unions that have increasingly funneled resources into tech organizing, which was, until recently, seen as an ever-growing pool of potential members. The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, last year raised membership fees for the first time in two decades, hoping to raise $10 million a year for new organizing. Union leaders this month flocked to Las Vegas for the CES technology conference, set on understanding how the latest innovations in artificial intelligence could disrupt their industries.