Why a SAG-AFTRA Strike Memo Is Blowing Up Twitter
As the Hollywood actors strike enters its second week, SAG-AFTRA is turning up the heat on the major studios. On Monday evening, the actors union shared a detailed statement laying out how “far apart” the union remains from the major studios—which it alleges “are committed to prioritizing shareholders and Wall Street”—when it comes to issues like wage increases and AI.
The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May, and last week, Hollywood’s actors joined writers on the picket line. In its statement this week, SAG-AFTRA told its members, “We’re up against a system where those in charge of multibillion-dollar media conglomerates are rewarded for exploiting workers.”
Meanwhile, in its own release on Monday, the AMPTP claimed that “SAG-AFTRA continues to mischaracterize the negotiations.” The studios say that their “goal from day one has been to come to a mutually beneficial agreement with SAG-AFTRA. ... For SAG-AFTRA to assert that we have not been responsive to the needs of its membership is disingenuous at best.”
Why Some Productions Are Still Rolling During SAG-AFTRA’s Strike
Representatives for the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for further comment.
Screenshots of SAG-AFTRA’s statement—specifically, a memo in which the union summarizes the two parties’ bargaining positions—have been making the rounds on Twitter, as striking workers stew over a number of provisions that the AMPTP allegedly rejected.
SAG just released all the deal points and the AMPTP's response. OH MY F*CKING GOD. #SAGSstrike 1/3 pic.twitter.com/mOfX2ZCy7k
— Senta Moses (@SentaMMoses) July 18, 2023
I love that SAG-AFTRA made sure to ask that their actors of color have the hair & makeup team that know how to do their hair & makeup. Cause we have heard the horror stories. And seen it. AMPTP tentatively agreed but only for principle performers still leaving out many others. pic.twitter.com/mECuCK5u80
— Caroline “WGA Captain on Strike” Renard (@carolinerenard_) July 18, 2023
There’s a lot to hate in the negotiations summary just released by SAG-AFTRA, but just this small snapshot neatly summarizes the AMPTP’s utter contempt for creative professionals and, indeed, human beings. pic.twitter.com/R9l9jiZvI6
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) July 18, 2023
The audacity.
CONSISTENTLY PAY LATE.
Not-so-gentle reminder that when WGA proposed that screenwriters get paid weekly, AMPTP responded that they did not trust that screenwriters would turn their work in on time & therefore rejected it. 😡#WritersStrike #ActorsStrike pic.twitter.com/0xHCGb7LxT— Kay Cannon (@KayKayCannon) July 18, 2023
These counters from the AMPTP are infuriating. The ph mins for self tapes & turn around times!! There’s nothing like getting a 12 pg audition due next day & they already have an offer out to a big actor. So I have to spend money & time to prep for a role I’m not getting? Why? https://t.co/T07wapCwJl
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) July 18, 2023
SAG-AFTRA alleges that the AMPTP rejected a proposal that would have increased damages to counteract what the union calls “the unacceptable trend of egregiously late payments.”
“Though they admit that their companies consistently pay late,” the release says, “they have stated that they still will not pay on time, even with increased penalties.”
The AMPTP’s statement claims that SAG-AFTRA’s press release “deliberately distort[s] the offers made by AMPTP” and that it “also fails to include the proposals offered verbally to SAG-AFTRA leadership on July 12.”
On Tuesday, Rob Forman—a WGA member currently campaigning to join its Board of Directors—tweeted that the late payment dispute “has such blatantly cartoonish evil capitalist pig energy I had to read it twice.”
The AMPTP also allegedly rejected two proposals related to actor safety—one to increase penalties for productions that fail to provide meal breaks during actors’ typically long workdays, and another that would’ve hiked penalties for those that refuse to give performers adequate rest days between work days.
Everything You Need to Know About the SAG Strike
SAG-AFTRA’s release also reiterated its allegation that studios want to use AI “to scan a background performer’s image, pay them for a half a day’s labor, and then use an individual’s likeness for any purpose forever without their consent.”
In its own statement, the AMPTP writes that its most recent offer included a “[g]roundbreaking AI proposal which protects performers’ digital likenesses, including a requirement for performer’s consent for the creation and use of digital replicas or for digital alterations of a performance.”
In addition to its public statement, Variety reports that SAG-AFTRA held an informational meeting on Monday afternoon, and that more than 760 members—including Lupita Nyong’o, Melissa McCarthy, Lucy Liu, and Laverne Cox—signed on. There, a one-sheet of talking points outlined what the union believes is at stake.
“Without a transformative change in SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with the AMPTP,” the union wrote, “the acting profession will no longer be an option for future generations of performers, and actors already working in the industry will need to pursue other careers in order to survive.”
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