Negotiators for the Screen Actors Guild and top Hollywood studios agreed to request federal help in mediating an end to the prolonged writers strike, just a day before the negotiation deadline is set to expire.
SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents film and television actors, said on Tuesday it had agreed to a “last-minute request” from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to have a third party broker a contract deal that would satisfy both the actors union and the Writers Guild of America, Variety first reported. The deadline to come to an agreement will expire Wednesday at midnight PT.
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“We will not be distracted from negotiating in good faith to secure a fair and just deal by the expiration of our agreement,” read the SAG-AFTRA statement. “We are committed to the negotiating process and will explore and exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal, however we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement.”
The guild accused the AMPTP of leaking information to the press earlier Tuesday before negotiators knew of the federal request.
“The AMPTP has abused our trust and damaged the respect we have for them in this process,” the guild said. “We will not be manipulated by this cynical ploy to engineer an extension when the companies have had more than enough time to make a fair deal.”
The Biden administration has not said who in the federal government would broker an agreement.
Regardless of whether SAG-AFTRA members walk out in solidarity with the writers, producers are willing to let writers go broke before resuming talks in the fall, according to Deadline.
The SAG-AFTRA contracts, initially set to end June 30, were extended to Wednesday night in hopes of coming to a fair deal for all parties involved. The Directors Guild of America previously reached a tentative agreement for a new contract at the beginning of June.
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The WGA first went on strike in May due to demands for an increase in streaming residuals, higher pay, and better protections against artificial intelligence.
If negotiators refuse a second extension or fail to agree on a new contract by Wednesday night, the writers strike will soon expand to include Hollywood actors.
