If the strike order passes, this will be the first time that actors and screenwriters have been on strike at the same time since 1960.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), the union representing 160,000 television and movie actors, is calling for a strike after contract negotiations broke down in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, released a statement sharing that they intend to call a meeting Thursday with their National Board to vote on a strike order. The union's negotiating committee voted unanimously to recommend a strike after contracts expired on July 12 at 11:59 p.m. PT. If the strike order passes, the actors will be joining the screenwriters, who have been on strike for the past 70 days.
Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) began on June 7 and were extended on June 30.
Drescher called AMPTP's response to the union's demands "insulting and disrespectful."
If a strike goes through, this will be the first time that both actors and screenwriters have been on strike at the same time since 1960. The two strikes will have a major impact on Hollywood and the entertainment industry, bringing productions to a standstill.
In the statement from Drescher and SAG-AFTRA, the president said that actors' compensation "has been severely eroded by the rise of the streaming ecosystem."
Drescher also shared that the union is fighting for contract language that would protect actors from "having their identity and talent exploited without consent and pay" in the wake of advances in artificial intelligence.
Sharing that SAG-AFTRA members will receive more details once the vote goes through, including potential picket times and locations, Drescher ended her message, saying, "For the future of our profession, we stand together."
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios like Disney, Universal, Sony, NBCUniversal and Paramount, as well as streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple, said in a statement, "We are deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations. This is the union's choice, not ours."
A source tells ET, "SAG-AFTRA going on a possible strike has really instilled a grave fear for everyone in the entertainment industry, because now more than ever, all sides will be affected, with many wondering when their next paycheck will come in. Some in the business are already financial planning by setting aside funds, borrowing money, dipping into other resources. They're basically seeing what they can do in order for themselves and many of their families to survive."
In early June, around 65,000 members of SAG-AFTRA voted to authorize a strike and almost 98 percent of the votes supported the decision, according to The New York Times.
The list of proposals from SAG-AFTRA was 48 pages, close to three times the size of their last contract negotiations in 2020, the NYT reports.
Last month, it was reported that more than 300 members of SAG-AFTRA, including Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence, had threatened to strike should an agreement not be reached.
Meanwhile, screenwriters have been walking picket lines for more than 70 days with their union, the Writers Guild of America. The union has not yet returned to bargain with the studios.
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