International Acting Guilds Proceed With Caution Over Potential SAG-AFTRA Strike
29.06.2023 - 13:11
/ deadline.com
With the news that SAG/AMPTP negotiations could push into next week, international acting unions are for the most part taking a cautious approach to supporting a potential actors strike.
Unlike writers guilds around the world, which came out in support of the WGA’s labor action prior to it being called, unions in English-speaking countries are being conservative.
With more than 1,000 actors now urging SAG-AFTRA’s leadership to take a tough line in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television (AMPTP), and talks on a knife edge, questions have arisen over how other nations might respond and what guidance local actors will receive around working on projects from ‘struck’ U.S. companies.
Canadian actors guild ACTRA declined comment beyond saying the strike “has not yet happened and is currently speculative,” while the Brussels-based International Federation of Actors (FIA) had nothing to say with just two days to go before the first deadline runs down. As we revealed late yesterday, that deadline could yet be extended into next week if SAG and the AMPTP feel close to reaching a deal.
Most guilds we approached are keeping their powder dry until the situation becomes clearer but some international unions are taking a more forthright position. Mark Phillips, Communications Director at Australia’s Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, said SAG-AFTRA had been keeping his org informed.
“As a sister union, MEAA stands in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA and will continue to work with SAG-AFTRA to determine the appropriate steps needed on any productions in Australia that are impacted by industrial action if it occurs in the U.S.,” he added.
While the situation nearly two months in has now somewhat calmed, the first