SAG-AFTRA Members Vote To Ratify Contract

The votes are in and SAG-AFTRA members have chosen to accept the new contract recommended by the union’s leadership.

“Members approved the new, multi-year contracts covering television, theatrical and streaming production by a vote of 78.33% to 21.67% with a turnout of 38.15%,” according to a statement from the union.

The actors’ contract ratification brings to a close an historic dual strike in Hollywood that brought production to a near halt in L.A. and beyond.

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“I’m proud of our SAG-AFTRA membership. 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,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers also issued a statement just after the news was announced.

 “The AMPTP member companies congratulate SAG-AFTRA on the ratification of its new contract, which represents historic gains and protections for performers," the organization that represents the major studios and streaming services said in the statement. "With this vote, the industry and the jobs it supports will be able to return in full force.”

The guild’s leadership has noted that the deal includes wage increases, a new model for residual payments from streaming services and groundbreaking protections around artificial intelligence.

Still, the existential threat of AI continues to cause concern for many performers who say they are worried about overuse — and misuse — of their digital replicas.

The SAG-AFTRA strike saw thousands of people take to the streets and picket lines from July to November. And the Hollywood freeze brought below-the-line entertainment workers — like set builders, costume makers and prop masters — into financial hardship.

Months of picketing

During the strike, thousands of actors picketed at studios across Los Angeles. In September, thousands of actors, writers and supporters marched from Netflix headquarters to the Paramount Studios lot.

At a rally after the march, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, newly elected first vice president of SAG-AFTRA L.A., said the fight in Hollywood was inspiring other labor movements.

“So this isn’t just for us. This is for workers around the world,” Ralph exclaimed to a cheering crowd just outside the iconic Paramount lot gates.

Nearly every day of the strike brought a different show of solidarity to the sidewalks outside studios across L.A. In the intense August heat, Latino actors and writers joined together for a rally outside of the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, where Edward James Olmos gave a speech.

“Be ready for the long-run,” Olmos told the crowd. “This is going to take months, do not bail out on us.”

Actor Edward James Olmos at the picket line hosted by the SAG-AFTRA and WGA Latinx committees.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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And there was honking, lots of honking from passing cars as countless picketers egged on their support.

“We will keep going until we get the deal that we need,” actor and animator Mike Rianda told LAist outside the Warner Bros. lot in September.

In the fall, actors and writers rallied outside Amazon Studios in Culver City in support of SB 799, a proposed state bill that would extend unemployment benefits to workers who have been on strike for more than two weeks.

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill.

It’s still too early to be certain, but some estimates put the financial cost of the halted production to the local economy in the billions of dollars.

Timeline: SAG-AFTRA strike

• May 17: SAG-AFTRA union leaders ask for and receive a strike authorization vote ahead of contract talks.
• June 7: SAG-AFTRA begins negotiations with the AMPTP; contract due to end June 30.
• June 30: Both sides agree to extend talks through July 12.
• July 12: Federal negotiator brought in.
• July 13: The national board of SAG-AFTRA authorizes its 160,000 members to go on strike.
• July 14: Picketing begins at 9 a.m. at major studios and streamer HQ’s across the city.
• Sept 24: Writers Guild of America  reaches a tentative deal with studios and streamers.
• Sept 27: SAG-AFTRA announces that bargaining with the AMPTP will restart on Oct 2. 
• Oct 12: Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP break down. Actors union alleges studios using "bully tactics"
• Oct. 13: A coalition of Hollywood unions including the WGA call on studios to resume negotiations in good faith.
• Oct. 24: Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA negotiators and AMPTP resume
• Nov. 8: Tentative deal is reached
• Nov. 10: The guild’s national board votes to send the tentative contract to thousands of SAG-AFTRA members for a vote.