SAG-AFTRA contract talks will continue through July 12
Contract talks between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will continue until July 12, thanks to yesterday’s agreed-upon negotiation extension. SAG-AFTRA’s contract was originally to expire last night at midnight. However, no deal was set, and the two will attempt to reach an agreement over the next two weeks.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the parties agreed to the extension yesterday afternoon with only a few hours remaining on SAG-AFTRA’s contract. Allowing the contract to expire would have likely triggered a strike. Many within the union seem ready to pick up the signs and head to the lines, including the organization’s most famous members. Last week, a “Prepared To Strike” letter was signed by more than 1,000 members, including Charlize Theron, Glenn Close, Joaquin Phoenix, and more, and sent to SAG-AFTRA leadership. They must’ve received the letter because guild president Fran Drescher also signed her name to the document in one of those Obama awarding Obama moments.
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In a letter to membership Friday, SAG-AFTRA encouraged members not to “mistake this extension for weakness,” telling its 160,000 members that “We see you. We hear you. We are you.” Negotiations were said to continue today.
Many hoped a striking SAG would help bring AMP TP back to the WGA negotiating table because t he WGA insists that it is AM PTP holding up a resolution. Yesterday, Deadline reported the L.A. City Council approved a resolution that “urges the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to come to the bargaining table and reach a fair deal with the workers of the WGA.”
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If SAG-AFTRA were to strike as well, and the grievances and demands of both unions are very similar, the combination of so many out-of-work artists and creatives would likely force the AMPTP’s hand . One SAG-AFTRA member, Scream 6 and Secret Invasion’s Dermot Mulroney, told The A.V. Club the union should “just strike immediately and get this whole thing over with as fast as possible, so we can get back to entertaining America, entertaining the world.”
Source: The A.V. Club
