With the clock ticking toward a Wednesday deadline, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has requested federal help in its negotiations with SAG-AFTRA. The AMPTP, which bargains on behalf of studios and streamers, has asked for facilitators from the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS) to intervene in the ongoing discussions.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the decision to seek federal intervention followed a call with top company leaders, including Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros-Discovery chief David Zaslav, and Disney CEO Bob Iger, among others. The executives reportedly discussed the idea of involving the FMCS during the call on Monday evening.
However, facilitators from the FMCS can only be brought in if SAG-AFTRA also requests their assistance in the negotiations. At the time of reporting, there has been no official statement from SAG-AFTRA or the FMCS regarding this development.
With less than 36 hours remaining before the expiration of the SAG-AFTRA TV/theatrical contract package, this move is seen as a last-ditch effort to salvage or extend the negotiations. If an agreement is not reached by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m., SAG-AFTRA has the ability to call a strike, as nearly 98 percent of the union’s voting members authorized a strike in June.
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A potential strike by actors and performers would have a significant impact on the industry, particularly as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is already on strike, leading to a reduction in physical production in New York and Los Angeles. If actors also walk off the job, all union physical production would essentially come to a halt.
There have not been two entertainment unions on strike since 1960.
As of now, SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP have yet to reach a compromise on various key issues. SAG-AFTRA has prioritized overall increases in compensation, revamped streaming residuals, and regulation concerning the use of generative A.I., among other crucial matters.
During the 2007-2008 writers’ strike, the Writers Guild of America and the AMPTP agreed to involve federal mediators before the strike officially began. The strike ultimately ended due to several factors, including a Directors Guild of America (DGA) deal that served as a template for the writers’ agreement and the intervention of agents and lawyers who helped improve relations between labor and management.
The outcome of the ongoing negotiations and the potential involvement of federal facilitators will have a significant impact on the future of the entertainment industry. Both parties involved will continue to work towards reaching an agreement to avoid a strike and find resolutions to the remaining contentious issues.
