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SAG-AFTRA union members overwhelmingly approve contract
The Industry Dec 06, 2023
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher. | Photo courtesy of SAG-AFTRA/Facebook
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SAG-AFTRA members overwhelmingly approved the tentative deal that ended the 118-day strike against studios, the actors union announced Wednesday evening.
The three-year agreement was approved 78.33%-21.67%. Turnout was 38.15%, according to the union.
“I’m proud of our SAG-AFTRA membership,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement. “They struck for 118 days to grant the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee the necessary leverage to secure over $1 billion in gains, along with the union’s first-ever protections around AI technology.
“Now they’ve locked in the gains by ratifying the contract. SAG-AFTRA members have remained incredibly engaged throughout this process, and I know they’ll continue their advocacy throughout our next negotiation cycle. This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful.”
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement, “SAG-AFTRA members demanded a fundamental change in the way this industry treats them: fairness in compensation for their labor, protection from abusive use of AI technology, strengthened benefit plans, and equitable and respectful treatment for all members, among other things.
“This new contract delivers on these objectives and makes substantial progress in moving the industry in the right direction. By ratifying this contract, members have made it clear that they’re eager to use their unity to lay the groundwork for a better industry, improving the lives of those working in their profession.
“In any democratic institution, there will be disagreement at times. But no one should mistake the robust debate and democracy within SAG-AFTRA for any lack of unity in our purpose or mission: to protect and advance the cause of SAG-AFTRA members, now and forever.”
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in a statement, “The AMPTP member companies congratulate SAG-AFTRA on the ratification of its new contract, which represents historic gains and protections for performers. With this vote, the industry and the jobs it supports will be able to return in full force.”
Several weeks of balloting concluded at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The end of balloting came about three weeks after the union’s national board of directors approved the tentative agreement by a margin of 86%-14% and urged members to vote “yes.”
While the deal includes “consent and compensation guardrails” on the use of AI that will require studios to obtain an actor’s informed consent before creating or using a digital replica of a performer, some members said those guardrails don’t go far enough.
Actor Matthew Modine — one of the “no” voters on the National Board — was among the more vocal opponents of the deal, particularly in regard to the use of AI. Last month, he posted on social media:
“Within the contract, the word ‘consent’ is evoked at least a dozen times. It is purposefully vague and demands union members to release their autonomy. Agreeing to consent means contractually giving a go-ahead to our employers to digitally capture and reconstruct our physicality and our voices using artificial intelligence. Once this information is collected, a member can be regenerated whenever and however the contract holder chooses forever.”
In addition, after the full 129-page tentative deal was released by the union shortly after Thanksgiving, the hashtag #SAGAFTRAvoteNO emerged on social media, with numerous posters voicing opposition and citing what they said are insufficient protections against AI.
“If the selling point is ‘No contract is perfect’ you’re getting Used-Car-Salesmanned into a bad deal,” one poster on wrote on social media. “A NO vote on AMPTP’s contract OFFER simply gets us back to bargaining table w/more leverage than ever to get fair deal we need.”
NBC News quoted another poster, actor and SAG-AFTRA member Alex Plank, as calling the AI provisions “disappointing” because they allow “synthetic performers to compete with human ones.”
But until the end, union leadership continued to urge a “yes” vote, while touting the AI protections, and other contract improvements, its negotiating committee did win from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios.
“We have forged the biggest deal in industry history, which broke pattern, established new revenue streams and passed a historic $1 billion plus deal with the most progressive AI protections ever written,” Drescher said last month. “I feel pretty confident in saying this is a paradigm shift of seismic proportions.”
Variety quoted Drescher, during a Zoom meeting with members last month, as calling critics of the proposed deal “naysayers who have exploited this momentum of ours.”
Besides the AI “guardrails,” key components of the agreement include:
- a 7% increase in general wages, effective immediately, with future increases in 2024 and 2025; a total package of more than $1 billion in new wages and funding for benefits;
- establishment of a streaming participation bonus that will compensate performers in addition to traditional residuals; and
- other provisions, including improved relocation benefits, regulations on self-taped auditions and increased residuals for stunt performers.
The contract is retroactive to Nov. 9 and runs through June 30, 2026.
“We are pleased that the (union’s) National Board has recommended the agreement for ratification by the membership,” an AMPTP spokesperson said last month. “We are also grateful that the entire industry has enthusiastically returned to work.”
Hollywood production had essentially been at a standstill since May 2, when the Writers Guild of America went on strike and SAG-AFTRA performers mostly honored their picket lines. The WGA ended its strike in late September, and members overwhelmingly ratified their new deal in early October. SAG-AFTRA walked off the job July 14.
The shutdown is estimated to have cost the local economy billions of dollars, affecting not only actors and writers but all aspects of the production industry, as well as small businesses that rely on entertainment workers, such as restaurants and caterers.
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