SAG members sign open letter of solidarity as negotiations resume with studios
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is back in negotiations with Hollywood studios this week as the actors’ strike has now surpassed 100 days.
On Thursday, SAG-AFTRA delivered a counteroffer to major studio heads and are set to return to the bargaining table Friday.
As talks resume, thousands of SAG members signed an open letter in solidarity amid the strike addressed to their union’s negotiating committee.
“Back in June, before we went on strike, a large group of members signed an open letter telling our leaders that we would rather go on strike than take a bad deal. Now, more than 100 days into our strike, that is still true. As hard as this is, we would rather stay on strike than take a bad deal,” the letter reads.
It was signed by big names like Demi Moore, Daniel Dae Kim, Camila Cabello, Daveed Diggs, Debra Messing, Gina Rodriguez, Jon Hamm, LeVar Burton, Mark Ruffalo, Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal.
“We have not come all this way to cave now. We have not gone without work, without pay, and walked picket lines for months just to give up on everything we’ve been fighting for,” the letter continued. “We cannot and will not accept a contract that fails to address the vital and existential problems that we all need fixed.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cynthia Nixon, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, John Leguizamo and Patti LuPone also signed the letter.
“In any union, there will always be a minority who are not willing to make temporary sacrifices for the greater good. But we, the majority who voted overwhelmingly to authorize this strike, are still standing in solidarity, ready to strike as long as it takes and to endure whatever we must in order to win a deal that is worthy of our collective sacrifice,” the letter said. “We know that our union leaders are doing everything in their power to achieve that goal as they negotiate in good faith with the companies to arrive at a new contract that will protect us and our fellow performers, now and for generations to come.”
The letter then touched on why solidarity for one another was an important facet of the union itself.
“Everything we have as a union – every minimum payment, health and pension benefit, residual, royalty, and workplace protection – it has all been won with the power of our members; the power of our solidarity; the power of standing together as one to demand what is right, what is fair, and what we deserve. You have our trust, our support, and our power behind you now.”
SAG members have been on strike since mid-July, weeks after members of the Writers Guild of America walked off the job.
The WGA struck a deal with the studios in September and ended their strike after five months.
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