Background

The organization was formed on March 30, 2012, following the merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.^[7] In January 2013, Variety reported that the merger had proceeded with "few bumps", amid shows of good will on both sides. The stickiest remaining problem was reported to be the merger of the two pension funds, in part as a way of dealing with the issue of performers who paid into each plan but did not quite earn enough under either of the old plans to qualify for a pension.^[8]

SAG-AFTRA is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and in New York City, in addition to other local offices nationwide.^[2]

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) is an awards ceremony founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie and prime time television. SAG Awards have been one of the major awards events in the Hollywood film industry since then, along with the Golden Globe Awards and the Oscars. SAG awards focus both on individual performances and on the work of the entire ensemble of a drama series and comedy series, and the cast of a motion picture.

Global Rule One

Global Rule One states: No member shall render any services or make an agreement to perform services for any employer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement with the union, which is in full force and effect, in any jurisdiction in which there is a SAG-AFTRA national collective bargaining agreement in place. This provision applies worldwide.^[14]

Simply put, a SAG-AFTRA member must always work under a union contract around the globe.^[15]

"Do not work" orders are formally issued to denote productions that have not entered into the required agreements.^[16]

2016–2017 video game voice actor strike

After approximately a year and a half of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA issued a strike on October 21, 2016, against eleven American video game developers and publishers, including Activision, Electronic Arts, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Interactive, and WB Games. The strike resulted from attempted negotiations since February 2015 to replace the previous contract, the Interactive Media Agreement, that expired in late 2014.^[17] There were four major issues they fought for with this strike: establishing transparency in contract negotiation; preventing vocal stress from long recording sessions; providing safety assurances for stunt coordinators on performance capture sets; and giving payments of residuals based on sales of a video game,^[18] which have traditionally not been used in the video game industry. SAG-AFTRA members sought to bring equity for video game actors as in other industries, while the video game companies feared that giving residuals to actors would overshadow the contributions of programmers and artists that contribute to the games. It was the first such organized strike within the video game industry and the first voice actors' strike in 17 years, as well as the first strike within the merged SAG-AFTRA organization. As of April 23, 2017, it became the longest strike within SAG, surpassing the 95-day 1980 Emmy Awards strike, and the 2000 commercials strike.^[19]

An agreement was reached on September 23, 2017, ending the 340-day strike.^[20]

Strike against Bartle Bogle Hegarty

On September 20, 2018, SAG-AFTRA called a strike against global advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) after the company announced they would no longer honor a long-standing contract with SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA launched a successful strike action that drew thousands of members to picket lines and strike actions across the country.^[21] At the close of the strike, BBH agreed to return to SAG-AFTRA's contract.^[22]

In 2018, BBH had withdrawn from their contract with SAG-AFTRA, which was first agreed on in 1999, over contractual terms that stated BBH would not be allowed to hire non-union actors. BBH stated it put them at a competitive disadvantage as many of their peer agencies were not signatories.^[23][24][25]

SAG-AFTRA members' successful strike actions, including pickets and rallies throughout the US, proved a success for SAG-AFTRA. Several actions of note included a rally of 1,000 SAG-AFTRA members and supporters near SAG-AFTRA Headquarters at the La Brea Tar Pits, and a picket line at BBH Headquarters in Los Angeles that drew an estimated 1,000 members standing in solidarity on the picket line.^[26]

On July 20, 2019, SAG ended its 10-month strike against BBH after the advertising agency agreed to sign the union's new commercials contract.^[27]

Donald Trump ban

On February 7, 2021, SAG-AFTRA announced that Donald Trump, who resigned from the union three days earlier, was barred from rejoining for his perceived attacks on SAG-AFTRA journalists and support of the January 6 United States Capitol attack as president of the United States.^[28]

2023 strike

In June 2023, the guild voted to authorize a strike if its negotiating committee failed to reach an agreement on a new contract with major Hollywood studios by June 30. On June 27, over 300 actors signed a letter threatening to go on strike. Signatories include Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Rami Malek and Amy Schumer.^[29] The next day, signatories had reached 1,000 members.^[30] Key issues in the negotiations include issuing residuals based on viewership data and finding a uniform metric on which to judge all streaming platform data. Further issues include limiting the use of self-tape auditions and preventing the use of artificial intelligence and computer generated voices and faces within the entertainment industry.^[31][32][33] On July 10, 2023, SAG-AFTRA laid out potential strike rules including: no shoots, no press, and no social media promos for any actors or actresses under the guild.^[34] A representative of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) spoke about the compensation offered to actors to avoid a strike. The alliance, which negotiated with the union on behalf of Netflix, Walt Disney, and Warner Bros stated that SAG-AFTRA deliberately distorts the course of negotiations. The deal, which SAG-AFTRA refused on July 12, included more than $1 billion for an increase in salaries, pensions and health insurance, was designed for a three-year period and included the protection of actors from the use of their images by artificial intelligence.^[35]

On July 13, SAG-AFTRA announced that SAG-AFTRA's television, theatrical, and streaming contract with the AMPTP had expired without an agreement to replace it. They announced that the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee had voted unanimously to strike. SAG-AFTRA also announced that their National Board would meet later that morning to decide on whether or not SAG-AFTRA would go on strike. SAG-AFTRA said they would make their decision known to the public at 12 p.m. PST in a press conference at SAG-AFTRA plaza in Los Angeles.^[36] During the press conference, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland confirmed that members had voted to strike and that the strike would begin July 14.^[37][38] This marked the first strike that involved actors in the film and television industry since 1980,^[38] and also the first time since 1960 that both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA would strike at the same time.^[38][39] The strike would last for almost four months, eventually coming to an end on November 9, 2023.^[40] The deal received 78.33% approval among voting SAG-AFTRA members when the voting concluded on December 5.^[41][42][43]

Telemundo

On February 9, 2016, NBCUniversal, Telemundo's parent company, faced claims by SAG-AFTRA of operating under a double standard between its Spanish-language and English-language talent at NBC and Telemundo. In its response, the network released a statement claiming it is "committed to making Telemundo a great place to work for our employees and will continue to invest in them to ensure their salaries and working conditions are competitive with the rest of the broadcasting industry in accordance with market size and station revenues."

A few days later on February 13, 2016, SAG-AFTRA came back and added that Telemundo had been treating its employees like "second-class professionals" given that many actors do not receive basic workplace guarantees that SAG-AFTRA contracts provide, such as fair pay, water breaks, health insurance and residuals. At that time, Telemundo president Luis Silberwasser responded by saying that SAG-AFTRA asked for recognition of the union as the bargaining agent for employees — rather than seeking a vote by employees. However, SAG-AFTRA claimed that intimidation tactics had been taking place within the network to keep employees from unionizing and that they believe "there is no such thing as a 'fair vote' when workers are afraid for their careers and livelihoods, and live with the fear of retaliation if they are seen as actively wanting to unionize. SAG-AFTRA wants to ensure full protection for workplace democracy and performers' rights to choose through a truly fair process."^[44]

In August 2016, Telemundo once again found itself up against the union when the network refused to air an ad placed by SAG-AFTRA detailing the unfair wage gap and lack of benefits Telemundo employees face as opposed to unionized performers at NBCUniversal. The ad was set to air during the network's premiere people's choice awards Premios Tu Mundo but was never placed into rotation. A Telemundo spokesperson responded saying, "After legal review, we have concluded the ad did not pass legal standards for issue-based advertisement." Meanwhile, other Spanish-language networks such as MegaTV and Estrella TV aired the ad nationwide.^[45]

SAG-AFTRA continued to stand its ground, stating that "Telemundo's decision to censor 30 seconds of truthful commentary about its working conditions shows just how averse it is to having a transparent discussion about its refusal to fairly compensate Spanish-speaking performers."^[45]

In March 2016, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administered a secret vote amongst 124 Telemundo performers, based on the amount of time actors have worked on telenovela dramas and other shows. SAG-AFTRA announced that 81% of eligible voters chose to unionize in a balloting process that began Feb 7 and lasted four weeks.^[46]

On July 12, 2018, SAG-AFTRA announced it had reached a first-ever tentative agreement with Telemundo Television Studios covering Spanish-language television performers, after fifteen months of negotiations.

Among the key elements of the three-year deal were:

• Contributions to and participation in the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and SAG–Producers Pension Plan for the first time
• Residuals for both foreign and domestic exploitation and streaming platforms, based on a percentage of Telemundo's gross receipts
• First ever guaranteed minimum rates for all covered performer categories (including actors, stunt performers, singers and dancers).
• Annual increases in all newly-established minimums between 1–2% per year
• Newly established working conditions and safety protections, including:
  • Minimum rest period between calls of 10 hours
  • Requirement for qualified personnel to coordinate stunts
  • Provisions regarding protection of minors
  • Overtime, holiday pay, and per diem when on location^[47]

The agreement was renewed in 2021, including an increase in overnight rest periods from 10 to 11 hours except for on-location work, additional language tackling sexual harassment and audition safety and an increase in the current health and pension plan contribution rate by 0.5 percent once the contract's ended.^[48]