The WGA and SAG-AFTRA have been in this strike together for a majority of the time that the strike has gone on and as the WGA strikes an agreement on deal, SAG-AFTRA reaches out with their congratulations. The deal was met this past Sunday, September 24, according to Deadline.
SAG-AFTRA has made it clear that they will remain on strike and urged members of the AMPTP in a statement to “get back to the table with the actors to ‘achieve the necessary terms’ for its members,” via Deadline.
The statement continues with, “SAG-AFTRA congratulates the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement with the AMPTP after 146 days of incredible strength, resiliency and solidarity on the picket lines. While we look forward to reviewing the WGA and AMPTP‘s tentative agreement, we remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for our members. Since the day the WGA strike began, SAG-AFTRA members have stood alongside the writers on the picket lines. We remain on strike in our TV/Theatrical contract and continue to urge the studio and streamer CEOs and the AMPTP to return to the table and make the fair deal that our members deserve and demand.”
The actors of the union have been on strike for the past 73 days. The union walked out on July 14, which was two weeks after their contract had expired. A vote was taken to grant authorization for the strike and the vote of striking won by a landslide, at 98%.
The SAG-AFTRA strike is the first actors strike against the television and film industry since 1980. Talks of the strikes were elongated over and over again as the negotiations were ongoing but it is suspected that the studios did this purposefully in order to allow more Hollywood productions to be marketed.
SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, stated that the union has been “ready, willing and able to continue bargaining with them and we very much want the AMPTP to come back to the table.”
Negotiations for the actors are currently ongoing, but they will remain on strike for the foreseeable future, according to Deadline.