Hollywood studios say they offered actors $1 billion in gains before strike

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Major film and television studios offered Hollywood actors more than $1 billion in higher compensation and enhanced benefits before the SAG-AFTRA union called a strike last week, a group that represents media companies said on Monday.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiates on behalf of Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:), Walt Disney (NYSE:) Co, Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:) and others, said SAG-AFTRA “continues to mischaracterize the negotiations.”

SAG-AFTRA called a strike last Thursday after union negotiators said they were unable to reach an agreement with studios on a new three-year contract with higher benefits and limits on the use of their images by artificial intelligence.

“The deal that SAG-AFTRA walked away from on July 12 is worth more than $1 billion in wage increases, pension and health contributions and residual increases and includes first-of-their-kind protections over its three-year term, including expressly with respect to AI,” the AMPTP said in a statement.

“For SAG-AFTRA to assert that we have not been responsive to the needs of its membership is disingenuous at best,” the AMPTP added.

Earlier on Monday, SAG-AFTRA, which represents more than 160,000 actors, stunt performers and others, issued a detailed list of its proposals, and what it said were the studios’ responses, under the title “We’re fighting for the survival of our profession.”

Among them, SAG-AFTRA said it asked for an 11% general wage increase in the first year of the contract to make up for inflation. The union said the studios countered with an offer of 5%.

“We moved on some things, but from day one they wouldn’t meaningfully engage on the most critical issues,” SAG-AFTRA said.

The actors have joined members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which went on strike May 2 after failing to reach a deal with the AMPTP.