More than 3,600 SAG-AFTRA members have signed an open letter saying they would rather stay on strike than “cave in” to a bad deal.
The group, which calls itself Members in Solidarity, includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Hamm, Maya Hawke, Marisa Tomei, John Leguizamo and Bryan Cranston, among many other notable names.
The letter expresses support for the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee and says it speaks for the majority of the guild who “still stand in solidarity, ready to strike as long as it takes and to endure whatever we must in order to win a deal worthy of our collective sacrifice”.
SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for 105 days, shutting down almost all scripted film and television production in North America.
“We have not come all this way to give up now,” the letter said. “We didn’t go without work, without pay, and walk the picket lines for months just to give up everything we’ve fought for. We cannot and will not accept a contract that does not address the vital and existential issues that we all need resolved.”
The letter comes at a critical point in the strike, with many members beginning to grow restless.
Last week, George Clooney led a group of A-listers in an attempt to present the guild’s leadership with alternative proposals that they hoped would help break the deadlock. Fran Drescher, the union’s president, rejected the offer, saying the ideas violated labour law and didn’t “hold water”.
Since then, discontent has continued to grow, with many members eager to return to work.
The letter alludes to this, saying: “In any union there will always be a minority who are unwilling to make temporary sacrifices for the greater good.
Among the signatories is Gabrielle Carteris, who preceded Fran Drescher as president of the union.
The major studios returned to the bargaining table on Tuesday with a new offer. SAG-AFTRA negotiators took Wednesday to study it and delivered their response on Thursday.
The two sides remain far apart on many issues, and time is running out for the industry to salvage the 2023-24 TV season and the 2024 summer box office.
