SAG-AFTRA leaders told their members today that the guild’s ongoing contract negotiations have been “extremely productive” and that they “remain optimistic” that a fair deal can be reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
In a video posted on the guild’s YouTube channel, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland gave their first update on the negotiations since bargaining began on June 7, two days after the guild’s members voted 97.9% in favor of authorizing a strike if an acceptable deal isn’t reached by the end of the month when the current contract expires.
Taped outside the negotiating room shortly after Friday’s bargaining session wrapped for the day, Drescher said: “We’re not providing you with a lot of detailed reports tonight because, well, frankly, it’s very confidential what’s going on in there. But I just want to assure you that we are having an extremely productive negotiations that are laser-focused on all of the crucial issues you told us are most important to you. And we’re standing strong and we’re going to achieve a seminal deal.”
See the video here:
As the guild heads into what could be the final week of bargaining before the June 30 expiration of its current contract, Crabtree-Ireland said that “We have a very narrow window of time remaining before our contract expires. We’ve all been working long and hard to move these talks forward and we remain optimistic that we will be able to bring the studios, networks and streamers along to make a fair deal that respects your contributions to the industry.”
The video update comes the day after members of the Directors Guild overwhelmingly ratified a new film and TV contract, and 54 days into the ongoing Writers Guild strike.
Prior to the strike authorization vote, the guild laid out some of its key bargaining issues, which include “economic fairness, residuals, regulating the use of artificial intelligence and alleviating the burdens of the industry-wide shift to self-taping.”