In an agreement which could possibly mark the end of a strike of almost a year, Sag-Aftra and the major video game companies have concluded a provisional agreement on a contract agreement.
The interpreters’ union announced the provisional agreement on Monday evening without putting itself in detail on the terms of the agreement. The work stoppage against Video game companies will continue until the terms of a strike suspension agreement have been fully drawn up, said the union.
With the strike, the union took a position against the proposed AI conditions which, according to the leaders, would have enabled companies to undermine the members and their position in the workplace.
The National Executive Director of Sag-Aftra and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland declared Monday evening in a press release “implemented the necessary AI guards who defend the means of subsistence of the interpreters in the AI era, in parallel with other important gains”, although no specific term has been shared.
The Hollywood Reporter contacted a representative of video game companies on the other side of the table to comment.
Voice capture and performance workers have retained their services at Activision Productions, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, WB Games, Take 2 Productions, Blindlight and Formosa Interactive since July 2024.
While the union knew its strike as a battle on an existential threat to the professions of its members, a representative of the companies aut that the union “chose to move away” after the parties “found common ground” on 24 proposals out of 25.
The strike was characterized by a series of hilly demonstrations held in the offices of signatory companies in the Los Angeles region, from Formosa Interactive from Burbank to Activision Productions de Santa Monica.
Before the announcement on Monday, the parties have been dealing with their agreement for years, with its initially expiring in November 2022. No March recently, the union denounced “alarming gaps” in the last proposals of IA of companies.
Given the duration of the strike and high AI issues in the game industry, members will undoubtedly examine the summary of the agreement when it was released. The National Council of the Syndicate has not yet weighed on the agreement, while the members will also vote on ratification in the coming weeks before the agreement may come into force.
The president of the union, Fran Drescher, took a cautious tone in her statement on Monday evening. As she celebrated that “the needle has been advanced and that we are much better than before”, she noted that each contract is “work in progress” and that planning of the next negotiation cycle would begin as soon as it ends.
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director, Duncan Croubtree-Ireland and the director of chief contracts, Ray Rodriguez, directed negotiations for the union, and the general partner of Kauff McGuire & Margolis, William E. Zuckerman, negotiated on behalf of the employers.
