Hollywood Wary Of Video Game Actor Strike

Members of SAG-AFTRA have been on strike for three weeks, with no end in sight, in their fight to change working conditions for actors in video games. The actors seek safeguards against vocal injury, and they want backend residual-like payments, which are standard practice in film and TV but not in games. The video game strike is the first act from SAG-AFTRA, which was formed in 2012 as a merger between Hollywood’s two largest actor unions. Hollywood, eying major changes related to how people watch films, including competition from streaming services like Netflix, is fearful that widespread changes in the industry could trigger other labor disputes. The main film and TV contract forged by the union expires June 30, 2017. By staging the video game strike, SAG-AFTRA could embolden other unions, such as the Writers Guild of America. “It clearly gives other unions more leverage,” said Harley Shaiken, a labor economist and professor at UC Berkeley. “There’s a sense of solidarity and that increases the leverage of unions across the industry.”