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TV, film and radio actors and other performers voted to authorize a strike Monday night, bringing their union one step closer to joining a month-long walkout by Hollywood writers, which would dramatically escalate the U.S. entertainment industry’s labor crisis.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted overwhelmingly — 97.91 percent — for strike authorization ahead of the negotiations with production companies and studios starting June 7, the group said in a statement.
But SAG-AFTRA won’t resort to a strike just yet. The union’s leaders hope that simply having the authority to call one will put pressure on production companies and studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), as the two sides negotiate to renew their contract before it expires on June 30.
“As we enter what may be one of the most consequential negotiations in the union’s history, 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,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement after the vote.
The vote comes at a pivotal time for unionized entertainment industry workers, many of whom say that disappointing pay in the streaming era and emerging artificial intelligence technology threatens their livelihoods. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since the beginning of May, which has already disrupted some shows and projects. And the Directors Guild of America is nearing the end of its own negotiations with studios.
Now Hollywood executives face the prospect that A-list celebrities — as well as thousands of other entertainers and broadcasters — could walk off their sets in a matter of weeks if their demands aren’t met.
Here’s what you need to know about the crisis and how it’s shaking up Hollywood.
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