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No agreement at SAG-AFTRA talks Monday; union, studios return to bargaining Wednesday

October 10, 2023

Representatives for the striking SAG-AFTRA actors union and the major studios met Monday, Oct. 9, for the fourth time in eight days, but were unable to reach agreement on a new contract, the union announced.

Bargaining will resume on Wednesday, with the parties working independently on Tuesday, according to the union.

Representatives of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers also met last Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the first time the sides sat down with each other since the strike began July 14.

SAG-AFTRA demands include general wage increases, protections against the use of actor images through artificial intelligence, boosts in compensation for successful streaming programs and improvements in health and retirement benefits.

Monday’s scheduled talks came on the day that members of the Writers Guild of America overwhelmingly ratified their tentative labor deal, which brought the nearly five-month writers strike to an end.

Of those who cast ballots in a ratification vote that began last Monday, 99% voted in favor of the new pact, WGA leaders wrote in a message to union members. According to the message, 8,525 votes were cast, and 8,435 were in favor, with only 90 no votes.

The new pact will be in place through May 1, 2026.

But the boards of the WGA East and West branches both endorsed the tentative deal, and ratification was expected.

A resolution of the actors strike is the last remaining hurdle toward getting the film and TV industries back in business. Hollywood has been virtually crippled since the writers struck on May 2 and the actors followed on July 14 over many of the same issues.

SAG-AFTRA represents about 160,000 actors.

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Orange County Register