LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — In a national vote that was completed on Tuesday, the rank-and-file members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted to ratify their new contract with studios, officially bringing an end to the labor disputes that brought Hollywood to a standstill for much of 2023.
The union’s membership voted to approve the new, multi-year contract with a vote of 78.33% to 21.67%, though with just 38% of the union’s members casting ballots, according to SAG-AFTRA.
The union’s new deal includes more than $1 billion in new compensation and benefits plan funding, along with an increase in the traditional residuals formula. Additionally, the new contract provides for expanded compensation for actors working in streaming, including a substantial bonus on top of existing residuals structures.
The contract also provides new protections for human actors from the use of A.I. and creates new protections for the casting process, sexual harassment prevention protections, and more.
“I’m proud of our SAG-AFTRA membership. They struck for 118 days to grant the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee the necessary leverage to secure over $1 billion in gains, along with the union’s first-ever protections around AI technology. Now they’ve locked in the gains by ratifying the contract. SAG-AFTRA members have remained incredibly engaged throughout this process, and I know they’ll continue their advocacy throughout our next negotiation cycle. This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher.
The ratification officially brings to an end months of labor disputes between both the actors union and a guild representing Hollywood screenwriters, both of which were on strike over the summer, bringing film and television production to a halt. According to Reuters, preliminary estimates suggest that the strikes inflicted economic damage of more than $6 billion in California, and other states such as Georgia and New Mexico while the labor dispute played out.
