Striking actors in Hollywood have suspended negotiations with producers. Members were urged to rejoin the strike.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) suspended five days of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to end their strike demanding job guarantees and salary security.
In a written statement, AMPTP argued that SAG-AFTRA's proposal in the negotiations on job guarantees and salary security to end the strike would cost an additional 800 million dollars a year and cause an economic burden.
The statement noted that the parties did not accept each other's proposal and that the talks, which lasted for 5 days, were suspended on the grounds that “they were not moving in a productive direction and the gap between the two sides was too large.”.
STATEMENT BY SAG-AFTRA
In a written statement to its members, SAG-AFTRA said that the terms in AMPTP's offer were “more unfavorable” than those it had presented before the strike began.
SAG-AFTRA announced that AMPTP rejected the terms of their proposal, stating that the production companies refused to protect the performers against artificial intelligence and increase their salaries.
In the statement, SAG-AFTRA accused the AMPTP of using “bully tactics” and claimed that the AMPTP “exaggerated the amount of money in the proposal and deliberately misrepresented this information.”.
Members were again urged to join the strike.
STRIKES BY SCREENWRITERS AND ACTORS IN HOLLYWOOD
In a joint statement published on the website of SAG-AFTRA, it was announced that the decision to strike was taken due to the inconclusive negotiations with AMPTP on artists' salaries and job security against artificial intelligence.
Artists went on strike in the city of Los Angeles on July 15, demanding job guarantees and salary security in the absence of results from their negotiations with television production companies.
The WGA also announced a strike on May 2 on the grounds that they have been working under more difficult conditions and receiving less pay in return in recent years, when the annual production of TV series and films has increased significantly, and the two strikes were later merged.
The WGA's strike ended after 5 months as a result of the preliminary agreement reached with AMPTP, and it was announced that the three-year agreement, unanimously accepted by the union leaders, included the requested compensation, duration of employment and control of artificial intelligence.
The last time screenwriters went on strike was in 2007 and the 100-day work stoppage caused a loss of about 2 billion dollars.