SAG-AFTRA & WGA set to go on ‘National Day Of Solidarity’ Rally

SAG-AFTRA & WGA are going on a rally.

The Writers Guild of America and the SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Local will gather for a "National Day of Solidarity" rally on Tuesday opposite Disney Studios.

“SAG-AFTRA and WGA will join forces with the AFL-CIO and its affiliates from across the nation and across industries for a National Day of Solidarity,” SAG-AFTRA stated today.

“In this ‘Summer of Strikes,’ working Americans everywhere are fighting for fair contracts, better compensation, safe working conditions and protections from encroaching technology. Together, we are showing corporate America that when we fight, we win!”

The Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA have both been on strike since July 14. The rally will begin Tuesday at 10 am.

SAG-AFTRA Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Yvonne Wheeler are among the speakers expected to take the podium at the event.

Crabtree-Ireland said “We remain very eager to get back to the table with the AMPTP, as we’ve said every day” since the actors’ strike began. “We have been ready, willing and able to continue bargaining with them and we very much want the AMPTP to come back to the table.”

Key issues, as stated by SAG-AFTRA, in the strike include “economic fairness, residuals, regulating the use of artificial intelligence and alleviating the burdens of the industry-wide shift to self-taping.”

After four days of nonstop bargaining this week, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the WGA will resume talks next week.

Pay increases, viewership-based streaming residuals, the "preservation of the writers' room" via minimum staffing and guaranteed days of work, and restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence to compose scripts are among its main strike concerns.