Information for a strike-authorization vote targeting video game production companies is set to be mailed today to eligible members of the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union, which is already on strike against Hollywood film and TV studios.
“It has been nearly a year since SAG-AFTRA’s video game contract, the Interactive Media Agreement, was extended beyond the original expiration date as we negotiated with the companies for critical terms SAG-AFTRA members need,” union officials said in a recent statement. “Unfortunately, throughout the negotiations, the companies have failed to address those needs. For this reason, the negotiating committee and National Board unanimously agreed that the union should have a member-approved strike authorization in hand when bargaining resumes on Sept. 26.”
The video game companies involved in the talks include Activision Productions, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Epic Games, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Take 2 Productions, VoiceWorks Productions and WB Games.
Attempts to reach those companies for a comment were not immediately successful.
The video game agreement is separate from the contract covering film and TV actors, who are on strike amid stalled talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The union noted that many key issues are the same, most notably compensation and protections against the use of artificial intelligence.
According to the union, SAG-AFTRA is seeking an 11% retroactive wage increase and 4% increases in the second and third years of the contract, along with mandatory rest breaks, on-set medics during stunts or hazardous work and “vocal stress protections.”
Voting on the strike authorization will close Sept. 25.
The unions have played a poor hand badly. ‘Streaming’, was always open to data manipulation and the studios used that to inflate their share prices via “growth” that wasn’t likely to be backed in reality. Actors and writers saw this and got greedy, imagining they were being cut out of the loop. Viewership is down in a large part due to woke writers pushing inane unwatchable content – forced diversity and radical left wing politics is turning people off main stream media. The business problem here is the unions went all in against a foe themselves bluffing, but with everything… Read more »
100% correct. No one cares. Well maybe greeneyedboy does.
Go for it. You will all be working at Starbucks full time soon enough.
Strike? What strike? No one cares……and no one is missing anything from this industry.
I feel really bad for the entertainment industry workers. I hope this issue can be resolved soon. These people can’t get unemployment benefits and are in a tough spot. If this goes on any longer, I hope there is a fund started to help them. Not everyone in entertainment makes a salary like Leo DiCaprio.
Shouldn’t feel sorry for them. They decided to go on strike.
They better have a second career lined up. Zero chance this union gets anything substantial because of this strike.
It’s one thing to give the pilots a raise——-as they actually are indispensable. Actors and writers not so much.
Well your opinion is in the 21% minority. The vast majority of Americans support the strikes and believe the WGA and SAG will achieve their deserved compensation. You might think Hollywood is disposable, but most people value culture.
“culture”? is that what they create? LOL
Culture vs. entertainment vs. nonsense. Mind numbing.🙄😨
If you value culture, you stopped looking to Hollywood 20 years ago.