Hollywood labor unions from across the industry issued a joint statement in support of SAG-AFTRA, calling on the AMPTP studio representatives to resume negotiations with actors after breaking them off earlier this week.
“We collectively demand the AMPTP resumes negotiations in good faith immediately, make meaningful moves at the negotiating table with SAG-AFTRA to address performers’ specific needs, and make the fair deal they deserve,” the unions said in their statement.
The groups behind the statement notably include the Directors Guild, which has had a rocky relationship with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA members, as well as rumblings among its own membership, after closing a new deal far earlier than the other two unions. The full list of groups behind the statement includes both the western and eastern arms of the WGA, the DGA, IATSE, the American Federation of Musicians, Teamsters and Hollywood Basic Crafts.
They also call out the AMPTP for presenting SAG-AFTRA with “proposals which merely replicate the terms negotiated with other unions,” saying that “it should be clear to the studios and the AMPTP that more is needed.”
Read the full statement below:
“Our members work side-by-side for the same handful of employers, and our unions and guilds collectively stand more united than ever.
“Each day a fair contract addressing actors’ unique priorities is delayed is another day working professionals across our industry suffer unnecessarily. At this point, it should be clear to the studios and the AMPTP that more is needed than proposals which merely replicate the terms negotiated with other unions.
“We collectively demand the AMPTP resumes negotiations in good faith immediately, make meaningful moves at the negotiating table with SAG-AFTRA to address performers’ specific needs, and make the fair deal they deserve.”
