The 118-day-long strike is almost over, SAG-AFTRA has now announced that they and the studios have struck a deal, marking the end of the longest-running actors’ strike in the entertainment industry.
As the union has unanimously accepted the deal, the strike will officially end at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday.
The deal has been going back and forth, as neither party was able to come to a conclusion. The studios were too adamant about their AI usage, and the actors were insecure about its usage, so AI often became the defining factor in terms of striking a deal.
The deal includes groundbreaking protections for actors against AI and a significant 7% pay increase, surpassing raises for the Writers Guild and Directors Guild.
Additionally, the deal offers a “streaming participation bonus,” boosts pension and health contributions, and is valued at over $1 billion, providing substantial benefits to SAG-AFTRA members. Now, the deal is indeed not completely perfect, but considering the situation, it is one of the better outcomes.
The full details of the deal aren’t completely out yet; we’ll have to wait until Friday. Amidst all of this, the studios also gave them a slight ultimatum, letting them know that the 2023-24 TV season could be lost if they had no deal.
