Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass hailed the “fair agreement,” recalling that the strike affected “millions of people” across the country.
The Screen Actors Guild union and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have reached a “tentative agreement” with Hollywood studios to end the historic 118-day strike, worldwide agencies report.
The union announced on social media the official end of the longest strike in its history at “00:01 on November 9” US time.
For now, the union is providing some details of the agreement, which are likely to emerge over the next few days.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass hailed the “fair agreement,” recalling that the strike affected “millions of people” across the country.
In a message to members, the union said the pact is worth more than $1 billion and includes wage increases higher than what other unions received this year, a “streaming participation bonus” and AI regulations.
The tentative agreement also includes a demand for higher wages, overtime compensation and restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence in movies.
If the deal is ratified, the contract could go into effect soon, and if not, the organization’s members will essentially send their labor negotiators back to the bargaining table with the AMPTP.
The tentative agreement will be presented to the SAG-AFTRA National Board for consideration today.
The SAG-AFTRA strike, coinciding with an ongoing writers’ strike in July, granted the union significant early leverage in negotiations with the AMPTP. Immediately, numerous remaining unionized U.S. productions operating without writers, such as Deadpool 3 and Venom 3, came to a halt. As the work stoppage persisted for months, a strategist at the Milken Institute estimated that the strikes had incurred a cost of at least $6 billion for the California economy alone.
However, as the strike surpassed the 100-day mark, pressure intensified. A-list actors engaged with both their union and the studios to expedite progress in the negotiations. Some actors contemplated drafting a letter expressing concerns about the union’s leadership but hesitated to publish it, fearing its potential impact on the negotiations. Then, on Oct. 26, a separate letter, endorsed by seemingly thousands of actors, urged negotiators not to cave, stating, “We have not come all this way to cave now.”
The duration of the union’s strike in 2023 is poised to heighten expectations for the agreement reached with the studios. In the upcoming ratification vote, the date of which is yet to be announced, members will determine the acceptability of the pact.
