The SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actor Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) strike has caused many issues and affected the development of cinema throughout the year. In the article “The SAG-AFTRA strike in Hollywood” by Candice Williams and Lindsay Lowe it explains how the strike began on July 14, 2023 and ended on Nov. 9, 2023.
Writers and actors decided to go on strike due to changes surrounding the environment of streaming. They have been protesting and fighting for higher pay and better working conditions. A strike by SAG-AFTRA happened before in 1980 which is explained in Candice Williams and Lindsay Lowes, “The SAG-AFTRA strike in Hollywood” and lasted for three months. The previous strike happened due to a dispute over pay cable and video cassettes.
From the article, “How the SAG-AFTRA strike has changed the fabric of our social media feeds” by Rebecca Smith it says, “Social media has taken the largest hit.” There were restrictions and risks put in place when the strike began. Specific guidelines stopped writers and actors from talking about the content they were a part of. In the same article, Smith says “As movies and filmed prior to the strike have been continued to be released, online promotion by writers, producers and actors has been at a standstill.” They did not want promotion for films and content while on strike. This affected influencers who are members of SAG-AFTRA. Some have contracts to promote projects and risk getting blacklisted from the union if they choose to work instead of joining others in protesting.
In the article “Will AI replace screenwriters”, it states that AI does not have emotions and therefore it proves that humans are better writers. Some of the SAG-AFTRA union workers were okay with AI technology writing scripts because it showcased how regular humans with real emotions were better at writing scripts. Debates revolved around the topic, with some people saying that AI only has a basic understanding of writing, and tends to write scripts that end up being cliche or boring
With a new deal being made this brought the end of the strike. In the article “the SAG-AFTRA strike is over” by Megan Cerullo it says, “The actors strike is over, with the union representing performers last week approving a tentative agreement with Hollywood studio.”
The deal consisted of minimum compensation increases, streaming bonuses, disclosure of the viewership stats, limits on artificial intelligence, minimum number of background characters and relocation bonuses. English teacher Mr. Jeremy Wood said, “As unionized workers, they have every right to collectively bargain and negotiate for what they believe to be rightful compensation.”
By setting the contract it shows how they got a pay raise and cleaned up terms based on AI. The contracts were worth 2.65 billion dollars a year, but now there is an increase of 221 million dollars that will be paid to the workers in forms of wages and residual. Most people felt like this was a fair settlement and union workers were happy about it. Junior Emma Groh said, “I think they should respect the people who work behind the scenes a little bit more and appreciate them.”
This strike shut down multiple TV shows, projects and movies in the U.S and some even abroad. This shows that when a union bands together they can fight together to get what they want. SAG-AFTRA’s core mission was to represent members by negotiating and enforcing collective bargaining agreements.
As many are curious on what’s next for the future of SAG-AFTRA the president of the union says “In the coming months, we’ll be focusing on diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the industry.” The president also said that they will be adding better guidelines for mental health support and protection of performers’ rights.
