The ratified contract follows the end of the 118-day actors strike
SAG-AFTRA members have voted to ratify the tentative three-year contract with major Hollywood studios and streaming companies.
The deal was green-lit by a vote of 78.33 percent to 21.67 percent with a turnout of 38.15 percent; the new agreement will take effect retroactive to June 9, and will extend to June 30, 2026.
“I’m proud of our SAG-AFTRA membership. They struck for 118 days to grant the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee the necessary leverage to secure over $1 billion in gains, along with the union’s first-ever protections around AI technology. Now they’ve locked in the gains by ratifying the contract,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher in a statement. “This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful.”
The guild’s executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland added, “SAG-AFTRA members demanded a fundamental change in the way this industry treats them: fairness in compensation for their labor, protection from abusive use of AI technology, strengthened benefit plans, and equitable and respectful treatment for all members.”
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The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers issued its own statement on Tuesday, congratulating the union and the deal’s “historic gains and protections for performers.”
SAG-AFTRA valued the new contract at over $1 billion; the agreement raises minimum wage rates by 7 percent in the first year, and 4 percent and 3.5 percent in the years after. Among the deal’s terms are new guardrails for the use of artificial intelligence — detailing informed consent and compensation, “meaningful” protections during the casting process, sexual harassment prevention protections, and a new compensation model for performers working in streaming.
