On Thursday, SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood actors and performers, voted unanimously to go on strike after talks broke down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
They will now join the Writers Guild of America on the picket lines, which has been on strike since early May over many of the same issues, such as diminished monetary returns under streaming and threats of AI influencing what has traditionally been, you know, human work.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher (The Nanny) said at a press conference that Hollywood executives “make Wall Street and greed their priority, and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run. Shame on them. They are on the wrong side of history.”
In response, AMPTP said the strike is the actors’ choice, not theirs. The group also suggested that people are only going to get poorer while striking, but that discounts the amount of ridiculously good-looking new servers we’re all about to have at Outback Steakhouse.
Does that mean Broadway actors are also on strike?
SAG-AFTRA represents more than 160,000 screen actors, broadcast journalists, announcers, hosts, and stunt performers.
However, despite the immense count of total SAG-AFTRA members, the strike only affects the union’s 65,000 performers from television and film productions. This is the group that in early June voted overwhelmingly to authorize their leaders to call a strike if an agreement with AMPTP could not be reached by the deadline.
Thus, Broadway actors are not affected, and may continue performing on stage. According to PBS Newshour, Broadway actors released a statement saying that they stand “in solidarity” with those going on strike — presumably while smirking that they still get a paycheck next Friday.