Actors in Hollywood have voted in support of strike action as movie and television studios struggle with a monthlong work stoppage by the industry’s writers.
The actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, voted 97.91% in support of a strike. Nearly 65,000 members, or about 48% of those eligible, voted on the ballot.
Contract negotiations between the 160,000-member actors union and major film and TV studios are scheduled to begin on June 7.
No new negotiations are scheduled with the striking Writers Guild of America (WGA), which represents 11,500 film and TV writers.
The writers walked off the job in May and their absence has disrupted production of late-night talk shows and shutdown high-profile programs such as Netflix's (NFLX) “Stranger Things” and HBO’s “Game of Thrones” spinoff series called “House of the Dragon.”
Over the weekend, the studios reached a tentative labour agreement with the Directors Guild of America (DGA). Members of that union will vote to ratify the deal in coming weeks.
A strike by actors would all but shutdown Hollywood production and increase pressure on studios that need programming to feed their streaming services broadcast schedules.
Actors are seeking higher pay and safeguards against unauthorized use of their images through artificial intelligence (A.I.) and other technologies. Their current labour deal expires on June 30.
The actors’ union has said that the entertainment industry had changed dramatically with the rise of streaming services.
