Hundreds of Prominent Hollywood Actors Sign Letter Making It Clear They’re Ready & Willing To Strike

After the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) first went on strike last month, other Hollywood unions’ contracts with studios are starting to come up for renegotiations, and they’re making it clear they’re not opposed to joining the WGA on the picket lines.

Hundreds of actors, including some powerful A-listers like Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, signed a letter to the SAG-AFTRA Leadership and Negotiating Committee stating that if the union tries to settle for a deal that doesn’t meet their demands, they’re prepared to strike.

“We hope you’ve heard the message from us,” the letter reads. “This is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry, and what might be considered a good deal in any other years is simply not enough. We feel that our wages, our craft, our creative freedom, and the power of our union have all been undermined in the last decade. We need to reverse those trajectories.”

Over 300 actors signed the letter, which was obtained by Rolling Stone. Their plea, in which they said, “SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not” comes after Fran Drescher, President of SAG-AFTRA, released a video statement, giving an update on the negotiations between the union and the studios.

In the video, Drescher said, “We are having […] extremely productive negotiations that are laser-focused on all of the crucial issues you told us are most important to you. We’re standing strong and we are going to achieve a seminal deal.”

In their letter, the actors expressed their concerns, which include minimum pay, growth of streaming, and pensions. It also included a main point of concern that played heavily into the WGA’s decision to strike as well: AI and how it’s trained and incorporated into film and television.

The stars have said that although they are willing to strike, they do not want it to come to that, as it would bring “incredible hardships to so many, and no one wants it”.

The union has until June 30 to reach an agreement in these negotiations.

(featured image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)