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Ellise Shafer U.K. entertainment unions Bectu and Equity are celebrating the tentative agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP that is set to end the longest actors strike in Hollywood history. In an announcement on Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA said that the 118-day strike would officially end on Thursday at 12:01 a.m.

“A slap in the face” was the verdict of broadcasting union Bectu to Channel 4 bosses’ decision to accept bonuses this year amidst a 250-staff layoff program.

“Urgent and joined up action” has been demanded from the UK government by broadcasting union Bectu, which has called for an industry-wide summit and criticized the culture secretary for saying the creative industries are “booming.”

The boss of the Bectu union has urged British broadcasters to have an “open and honest conversation about what the future looks like” with the ailing freelance workforce, while revealing concerns over future U.S. strike action.

UPDATED with Equity statement, 3.28am PT: Equity has now issued a short statement on the strikes. In a post on X, the union said: “We’re pleased to hear that our sister union SAG-AFTRA has approved a tentative agreement with the AMPTP and that the strike has been suspended. Solidarity with all who stood strong during this action and we wish SAG-AFTRAthe best as they deliberate the contents of this deal.”

“It’s like The Hunger Games, the AMPTP thinks they can starve us back to work,” said Bectu National Secretary Spencer MacDonald, as around 200 below-the-line workers gathered in London’s Leicester Square this afternoon to urge a swift end to the actors strike.

UK industry bodies Bectu and the Writers Guild of Great Britain are saluting the tentative agreement reached on Sunday by the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to end the writers strike after nearly five months. They also called for a speedy resolution to the SAG-AFTRA strike. The UK industry has been hard hit by the labor unrest on the other side of the Atlantic.

Broadcasting union Bectu has waded into the U.S. labor dispute with an open letter to the AMPTP, urging it to financially support UK crew who are “suffering hardship” and to “resume negotiations” with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.

Brian Cox and “Catastrophe’s” Rob Delaney were among the speakers at the London rally, along with “The Pact” and “Alex Rider” star Rakie Ayola, Equity general secretaries Paul W. Fleming and Lynda Rooke and Bectu boss Philippa Childs. Actors in attendance included “Mission: Impossible 7” actors Simon Pegg and Hayley Atwell, “No Time to Die” star Naomie Harris, David Oyelowo, Andy Serkis, “The Crown’s” Imelda Staunton, “Downton Abbey” actors Jim Carter and Penelope Wilton.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International “Succession” star Brian Cox and “Catastrophe’s” Rob Delaney are among the confirmed speakers at a London rally in support of the SAG-AFTRA strike. U.K. actors union Equity revealed plans earlier this week for two major demonstrations on Friday in solidarity with the actors strike. Twin rallies will take place at noon local time in London’s Leicester Square and in Manchester’s Media City. Speakers so far scheduled for the London rally include Cox and Delaney as well as “The Pact” and “Alex Rider” star Rakie Ayola, Equity general secretaries Paul W. Fleming and Lynda Rooke, and Bectu boss Philippa Childs. Member of Parliament John McDonnell is also set to speak.

EXCLUSIVE: Dune and Oppenheimer VFX firm DNEG is making dozens of layoffs in its London HQ.

EXCLUSIVE: UK broadcasting union Bectu has sounded the alarm over strike action in the US.

The UK’s public broadcasters and broadcasting union have taken their first step to forging an “industry-led strategy” to address the current freelancer crisis.

UK broadcasting union Bectu has declared a state of “emergency” in the unscripted TV community due to an unprecedented lack of work.

K.J. Yossman U.K. broadcasting union Bectu has declared an emergency over the “unprecedented” lack of work in the unscripted TV sector so far this year. Bectu head Philippa Childs said in a statement she is “deeply concerned” about reports that freelancers working in unscripted are “struggling to find work.” Childs was mandated to make the statement following the union’s national conference in Eastourne over the weekend, where a motion was carried from the union’s unscripted branch – which reps freelancers ranging from runners to exec producers in genres including factual entertainment, entertainment, documentary, non-scripted comedy, news, children, reality, live and natural history, among others – over the “uncharacteristic” lack of work. The motion noted it has been “unusually quiet for freelancers in the unscripted genres, and many have not worked at all since January or earlier.”

EXCLUSIVE: The BFI is to involve Bectu with its Skills Task Force after being slammed for the “disappointing” decision to initially exclude the union.

EXCLUSIVE: Major international arts and entertainment unions, employers, bodies and governments have agreed on their first framework for a decade to improve workers’ rights after a week of tough negotiations in Europe.

K.J. Yossman The Film and TV Charity’s latest report on health and wellbeing in the U.K. screen industry shows improvements are slowly taking place. The Looking Glass Report 2022, which is based on a survey of 2,000 screen industry professionals last year, was published on Thursday and shows 80% of respondents felt there had been a positive change in culture and behavior throughout the U.K. screen industry. According to the report, mental wellbeing scores also improved marginally, from 19.3 to 19.7 on the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (for context, the U.K, average is 23.6) while those reporting poor mental health dropped from 29% to 24%. Meanwhile reports of bullying, harassment, and discrimination dropped from 53% in 2021 to 46% in 2022.

Local radio, one of the BBC’s most treasured departments, is the latest to be hit by the swingeing cuts to the BBC News division.

K.J. Yossman British crew union Bectu has released the results of its latest survey, which shows that racism is still prevalent in the broadcasting industry.Conducted in partnership with the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, the survey also found that reporting mechanisms were “largely ineffective.”Among the findings of the survey were that 61% of global majority respondants had experienced racism at work and 59% had witnessed it.

Broadcasting union Bectu’s members have voted “overwhelmingly” to reject trade body Pact’s latest offer and the future of the pair’s TV Drama agreement could now be in doubt.

K.J. Yossman Negotiations between producers and crew over U.K. TV drama negotiations have collapsed.U.K.

Naman Ramachandran The ongoing negotiations on working conditions on high end TV between U.K. producers body Pact and crew union Bectu have hit a wall, with the former suggesting that the latter’s proposals are financially unviable.

Relations between UK broadcasting union Bectu and producer trade body Pact are plunging new depths as the union urges its members to reject Pact’s latest TV drama terms offer.

The UK’s entertainment unions have united to express “dismay” at the British government’s plans to sell broadcaster Channel 4 and urged it to reconsider.

K.J. Yossman The U.K.’s most prominent television and film unions have issued a joint letter opposing the privatization of public service broadcaster Channel 4.The Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU), which is comprised of crew union Bectu, performing arts union Equity, the National Union of Journalists, the Musicians’ Union and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, together represents over 120,000 creative workers in the U.K.In a letter to U.K.

K.J. Yossman BBC Director-General Tim Davie has revealed plans for a “digital first” BBC as the broadcaster celebrates its hundredth year as well as revealing at hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cutbacks.Davie said he plans to cut £200 million ($250 million) from the budget due to the government’s decision to freeze the license fee, which funds the BBC.

K.J. Yossman A production designer has reportedly been fired from Netflix’s “Bridgerton” spin-off “Queen Charlotte” over allegations of bullying.British tabloid The Sun has reported production designer Dave Arrowsmith, who has worked on projects including “The Kissing Booth” and “Screw,” was “fired by Netflix chiefs amid claims of abusive behaviour and bullying on set.”A source close to “Queen Charlotte” confirms to Variety that Arrowsmith “has left the project” but wouldn’t be drawn on the reasons for his departure.“There have been several issues on set, and a few crew members expressed concerns about a number of different incidents,” The Sun quoted an anonymous source as saying.“Queen Charlotte” will tell the origin story of “Bridgerton’s” reigning monarch as well as a young Violet Bridgerton and Lady Danbury.

K.J. Yossman When it rains, it pours.

UK broadcasting union Bectu has urged members to “do nothing to undermine the IATSE action” and say no if offered the work of a striking IATSE member.

By Philippa Childs

By Andreas Wiseman

U.K. broadcasting union Bectu has warned about the impact coronavirus could have on TV and film freelancers’ livelihoods.

By Tom Grater