SAG-AFTRA will resume its negotiations with the major studios on April 27, thanks to an early agreement with the Writers Guild of America.
The performers’ union broke off talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on March 15. The two sides had been at the table for five weeks at that point, and expected to resume bargaining in June, after the AMPTP talked to the WGA and the Directors Guild of America.
But when the WGA reached a tentative deal on Saturday, nearly a month before its contract was set to expire, it created an unexpected opening in the AMPTP calendar.
“SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will resume formal negotiations on Monday, April 27, and remain under a mutually agreed upon media blackout,” the union said in a statement on Monday.
SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will now try to wrap up an agreement before the DGA comes in to talk to the studios on May 11.
The primary issues that remain to be resolved with SAG-AFTRA have to do with artificial intelligence and streaming residuals.
The WGA announced a tentative deal on Saturday night, telling members that the agreements puts the union’s health plan on a “sustainable path.” The health plan had suffered $200 million in cumulative deficits over the past four years, due to a decline in employment and steady increases in health costs.
The WGA negotiating committee unanimously recommended the agreement to the boards of the WGA East and West, which must approve it before it is sent to the members for ratification.
Leave a Reply