Los Angeles (USA) (EFE)
The US interpreters union joins the strike that the Writers Union (WGA) has maintained since May, thus undertaking a simultaneous strike for the first time in 63 years that could paralyze the Hollywood industry in its entirety.
“Proceeding to a strike is something very serious that can affect thousands, if not millions of people, throughout the country and throughout the world (…) We arrived at this crossroads with great sadness, but we had no other option,” said the President of the institution, Fran Drescher.
The decision, previously approved by 98% of the union members, was officially made after the meeting of the union’s board of directors held this Thursday.
The Hollywood standstill
The day before, SAG-AFTRA tried to reach a conciliatory agreement with the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP) and at their meeting they had the presence of federal mediators as an urgent measure to unblock the negotiations.
“It’s very hard to believe this, but we couldn’t get what our members deserve. Had he accepted, the situation would only have been worse. This is where we set our limit”, Drescher deepened.
The last time actors went on strike against studios was in 1980 over the benefits of home videotape and pay-TV, and it lasted for three months.
The actors’ and scriptwriters’ unions had not been on strike at the same time for 63 years, and in that 1960 they obtained benefits such as access to health insurance and a pension.
But it was the 100-day strike led by the writers in 2007-2008 that laid the foundations for the current conflict by focusing most of the discussions on paying for content distributed over the Internet.
Improvement of working conditions
Now, the requests of both share similarities on issues such as the improvement of working conditions, the fair payment of residual rights by the platforms for “streaming” and transparency in the process of calculating these amounts, as well as the regulation the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
“The AMPTP has refused to acknowledge that the enormous changes in the industry and the economy have had a detrimental impact on those who work for the studios,” the president deepened.
Union leaders held talks with the alliance, which negotiates on behalf of studios and large chains such as Amazon, Apple, Disney and Netflix, since June 7.
The urgent request sought to use neutral agents to help unblock the negotiations, but the union accused the AMPTP of having “abused” its trust by leaking to the press the proposal to include federal mediators before they were aware of it. the same.