SAG-AFTRA union members have voted sure to authorize a online game strike. It did so with a 98.72% vote in favor of authorizing a strike on the Interactive Media Agreement that covers its members’ work within the video games trade. In whole, 34,687 members solid ballots, which represents 27.47% of eligible voters, SAG-AFTRA writes in a press launch.
This vote doesn’t imply SAG-AFTRA is hanging, however provides the union leverage in its ongoing negotiations and, if wanted, permits the union to start a strike instantly. The union hopes this strike authorization will work as added leverage, compelling the businesses it’s bargaining with “to make significant movement on critical issues where we are still far apart.”
As for why, SAG-AFTRA has been in Interactive Media Agreement negotiations with “signatory video game companies,” together with Activision Productions Inc., Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Insomniac Games Inc., Epic Games, Take 2 Productions Inc., WB Games Inc., and extra, since October of final yr. SAG-AFTRA says, “Throughout the negotiations, the companies have refused to offer acceptable terms on some of the issues most critical to our members, including wages that keep up with inflation, protections around exploitative uses of artificial intelligence, and basic safety precautions.”
The subsequent bargaining session begins at present and is scheduled for tomorrow, September 27, and Thursday, September 28, as properly.
“It’s time for the video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher writes in a press launch. “The result of this vote shows our membership understands the existential nature of these negotiations, and that the time is now for these companies – which are making billions of dollars and paying CEOs lavishly – to give our performers an agreement that keeps performing in video games as a viable career.”
SAG-AFTRA nationwide govt director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland says it has change into clear to the union after 5 rounds of bargaining that online game corporations aren’t prepared to meaningfully interact on essential points like compensation undercut by inflation, unregulated use of AI, and security. “I remain hopeful that we will be able to reach an agreement that meets members’ needs, but our members are done being exploited, and if these corporations aren’t willing to offer a fair deal, our next stop will be at the picket lines,” Crabtree-Ireland says within the press launch.
“Between the exploitative uses of AI and lagging wages, those who work in video games are facing many of the same issues as those who work in film and television,” chief contracts officer Ray Rodriguez writes within the press launch. “This strike authorization makes an emphatic statement that we must reach an agreement that will fairly compensate these talented performers, provide common-sense safety measures, and allow them to work with dignity. Our members’ livelihoods depend on it.”
After a unanimous suggestion of the SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee and National Board earlier this month, voting info was despatched to eligible members on September 5. The last deadline to vote was yesterday.
Previously, SAG-AFTRA referred to as for a strike for its members performing online game work again in October of 2016. The strike lasted nearly a yr earlier than a brand new contract was signed in November 2017. It went into impact on November 8, 2017, and was anticipated to run by way of November 7, 2020. However, an settlement was reached between member staff and their employers that prolonged this contract to November 7, 2022, as reported by Variety.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the employers,” then SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris stated in a press release. “The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the entertainment industry, but work on video games, much of which can be done remotely, has continued. This extension allows members to keep working and have some certainty during an uncertain time.”
This extension elevated wages by 3% every year, with well being and retirement contributions rising .5%, in accordance with Variety.
Ahead of the contract’s expiration in November 2022, bargaining started in October 2022. It continues this week, now with a strike authorization in play.
This SAG-AFTRA strike authorization comes shortly after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) union reached a tentative settlement in Hollywood. It has but to be ratified however is anticipated to be and can finish an almost five-month strike that started in May of this yr. SAG-AFTRA’s tv and movie arm started hanging in July; it’s nonetheless hanging at present.
SAG-AFTRA says the Interactive Media Agreement negotiations “don’t affect the timing or expected progress of negotiations or our strike on the TV/Theatrical contract” and that this strike authorization vote doesn’t affect the continued TV/Theatrical strike.
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