After the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike reached somewhat of a stalemate last week when negotiations were suspended by the AMPTP, George Clooney and a number of other big actors met with SAG-AFTRA leaders about a proposal of their own to end the strike that allegedly “didn’t go well.” Following those reports, the union’s president, Fran Drescher, went public with a message to clear up the “confusion” about recent talks with the A-list actors.
Per Thursday reports, a short list of massive stars, including George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Tyler Perry, Emma Stone and Scarlett Johansson, shared words with SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating leaders to propose a plan that would remove the cap on membership dues, along with suggesting a “bottom-up residual structure.” Drescher followed up the reports with a direct response that had her thanking Clooney for “organizing the suggestion” and calling it “extremely generous” before sharing that it “does not impact the contract we are striking over.” In her words:
We are a federally regulated labor union and the only contributions that can go into our pension and health funds must be from the employer. So what we are fighting for in terms of benefits has to remain in this contract. And that’s kind of apples and oranges, just so everybody understands that.
Drescher’s comments do somewhat validate what was coming in following their meeting since reports shared that the SAG-AFTRA committee “didn’t see the validity” of Clooney and these other actors' proposal. Drescher does, however, provide more context as to why the union did not accept the A-list actors’ suggestions with open arms. As The Nanny star continued:
Also, there was a reference to a suggestion of maybe a solution from some people of how maybe we can get back to the table with some kind of a residual model. But that was vetted by our very experienced union contract staff negotiators and lawyers. And they said that it unfortunately doesn’t hold water because, frankly, this is a very nuanced house of cards. So although we appreciate the effort and the desire to be supportive to all the member body, we at the union and with the negotiating committee are still waiting for the CEOs to return to the table so we can continue our talks.
While Drescher shared her gratitude to the actors for bringing their suggestions to the committee, their proposal apparently does not directly play into the specifics of what SAG-AFTRA is negotiating with studios. George Clooney and co. (some of whom donated at least a million dollars to the actors strike already) were attempting to find solutions within the union to make appropriate changes, but per the president, the necessary changes need to be made from “the employer” rather than SAG-AFTRA. It’s in the hands of the CEOs of studios/companies such as Disney, Netflix and so forth to agree to their demands in the streaming era, but as Drescher shared, for the time being, they “don’t really want to address it.”
You can check out Fran Drescher’s complete response regarding George Clooney’s proposal. She posted the comments in the following Instagram video:
On September 26, the WGA writers strike concluded after 148 days with an “exceptional” deal that now provides writers with more protections going forward. The SAG-AFTRA strike is about to cross 100 days and a deal has yet to be agreed to. Drescher called the studios “naughty” for leaving the table before calling the move “not legal.” Drescher ended her message in a hopeful way, sharing that she and the committee will not “succumb to pressure” from the studios.
While some actors are getting special permissions to keep working during the strike, as long as the SAG-AFTRA strike continues, it will lead to more shifts to the upcoming 2024 movie release dates. We’ll keep you posted here on CinemaBlend as more developments unravel.
