Hollywood's actors are officially going on strike. Today, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced a strike, after talks broke down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The news comes two months after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike on May 2, marking the first time that actors and writers have gone on simultaneous strikes since 1960. Hollywood is expected to effectively shut down until the two unions reach a fair agreement with the AMPTP, which represents the major studios and streaming services.
"What’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor," SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in press conference on Thursday announcing the strike. "When employers make Wall Street and greed their priority, and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run, we have a problem, and we are experiencing that right at this moment.... The gravity of this move is not lost on me or our negotiating committee, or our board members, who have voted unanimously to proceed with a strike. It’s a very serious thing that impacts thousands if not millions of people all across this country and around the world."
