If you are from Philadelphia, you are used to having to fight for what you want. Abbott Elementary Lisa Ann Walter and Sheryl Lee Ralph joined numerous other working actors at a SAG-AFTRA rally in Center City, Philadelphia. A rally was held yesterday in Boston.
Members of SAG-AFTRA voted to strike after failing to reach a deal with major film and television companies. Members of the Pennsylvania Federation of Teachers, local labor unions, and the Writers Guild of America also attended in solidarity, as the latter had been on strike since May.
Key issues for both unions include residual payments, which have been nearly wiped out by the switch to the streaming system, and the unpaid use of their work and likeness by artificial intelligence avatars.
“When the world sees people on television and movies, they figure they’ve got it made; they’re all millionaires; they have several yachts,” Walter said to the crowd. “As the years have gone on, the business has paid those of us who are not the $20 million actors less and less and less until it is just about basic wage.”
Walter stood alongside her Abbott Elementary co-star, Ralph, to show support for the many working actors in their union who struggle to make ends meet.
“This is not about your favorite stars on TV or in motion pictures,” Ralph told the crowd. “Eighty percent of our union is made up of plain old ordinary people trying to make a living.”
“For the first time since the 1960s, both unions said enough is enough, and we demand more,” Ralph asserted.
REELated:
Nicole Izanec, president of SAG-AFTRA Philadelphia, stressed that most members of the local union are striving to be middle class, with some working hard to maintain their current status. Qualifying for health care annually is not a given, as union members must make at least $26,470 from their acting work in a given year to be eligible for coverage.
“We’re all being squeezed out of this industry, and, of course, we are going to strike because now the production companies have found a way to use our images without paying us for it,” Helen McNutt told The Philadelphia Inquirer who reported the story. ,
Members who spoke at the rally discussed the impact of streaming on their income and the potential threat posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to their future earnings. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers proposed using AI to scan background actors and use their likenesses in future projects in exchange for only one day’s pay, which further fueled their determination to strike.
While SAG-AFTRA represents 160,000 members nationwide, including roughly 3,000 in the Philadelphia region, the work stoppage specifically involves the 65,000 actors from television and film productions who voted to authorize a strike. The union members remain united in their demand for fair wages and improved working conditions.
No negotiations for either SAG-AFTRA or the WGA, which entered its 80th day, are scheduled.
