SAG-AFTRA‘s master contract with Hollywood’s largest employers is due to expire in two weeks, and negotiators who have been in bargaining talks since June 7 have a lot of proposals to work through before that deadline.
The time crunch has raised the possibility that the union’s talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers could go past the June 30 deadline, according to multiple sources who asked not to be identified.
The SAG-AFTRA board has the power to call a strike starting on July 1 if no agreement is reached. That would immediately shut down all film and TV production that has not already been halted by the writers strike.
But if progress is being made at the negotiating table, it’s possible that negotiators could tack on a few extra days of talks, with the understanding that an agreement could be backdated to July 1.
The negotiations have proceeded under a media blackout since the sides first gathered last week. Representatives for SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP declined to comment for this story.
SAG-AFTRA is seeking protections on the use of artificial intelligence, limits on self-taped auditions, increases in minimums, and a better streaming residual formula. But those items — which the union has discussed publicly — represent just the tip of the iceberg, the sources said.
The union also came into talks with dozens of other proposals affecting every constituency covered by the Basic Agreement.
SAG-AFTRA is the third guild to negotiate this year, following the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America. The WGA has been on strike since May 2. The DGA is holding a ratification vote for its new three-year agreement, with ballots due June 23.
SAG-AFTRA was scheduled for just three weeks and two days of bargaining before its contract deadline, which is a compressed timetable compared to previous rounds of bargaining.
In 2017, the two sides talked for one month before reaching an agreement. In 2014, the talks ran for nearly two full months. Both times, the negotiations were extended for three additional days, with the final deal coming on July 4.
The dynamics this time around could be different because SAG-AFTRA members are unusually engaged, thanks to the writers strike and SAG-AFTRA’s call for a strike authorization vote. The guild announced that 98% of the voting members backed the authorization, in a show of unity.
Many SAG-AFTRA members have joined writers on the picket lines. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, has appeared at strike events with WGA leaders. At one of them, he predicted a “hot labor summer.”
If negotiators are able to reach a deal, they will still have to get members to ratify it. Unlike the other guilds, SAG-AFTRA ratification votes frequently involve robust dissent.
The board typically recommends ratification by a sizable majority, but not unanimously, and the opponents are sometimes afforded the opportunity to provide a “minority report” laying out their objections.
In 2020, 74% of the voting membership supported ratification.
