With the WGA strike concluded, all eyes are on SAG-AFTRA to see when their strike will officially conclude. The union has been on strike for almost 90 days, and while there were no picket lines out and about on Monday due to Indigenous Peoples Day, the leadership within SAG met up with AMPTP to bargain and reach deal. On Wednesday, chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and several other guild leaders will be back to meet with CEOs and the AMPTP to begin bargaining yet again.
Although the negotiation meetings are every few days, and the public may think that the strike’s end is nowhere close, this is a good sign. During the WGA strike, it was not regularly told to the media when the studios and the unions were going to be meeting. But, once there seemed to be movement during these meetings, WGA posted about it on social media and their websites when the unions would be meeting with the studios. If the actor’s union is presumably going to follow this pattern, this may be a good sign in regard to the direction the strike is moving in.
“SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP held negotiations and have concluded for the day,” the parties said on Tuesday evening in a statement. “Bargaining will continue on Wednesday, Oct. 11, with the parties working independently on Tuesday.”
A source close to Deadline stated that the whole negotiations are “a process, we’re working through the process.” Deadline also shared that there is a very intense divide between both sides of the tables, but even so, the two sides are sharing their needs politely but with enough emphasis on how important these demands are to the livelihood of the actors and have been doing so since day one of the strike. Today, the meetings that will occur are trying to aim to end the strikes, just as they hit the 90-day mark.
Along with the meetings, the SAG-AFTRA picketing is set to resume again this week on Tuesday and will continue until the studios and union reach an agreement.