SAG-AFTRA Sets First Picket For Video Game Strike At Warner Bros.
Voice actors will be hitting the picket lines Thursday, as SAG-AFTRA announced the first in-person action against one of 10 major video game companies impacted by the Interactive Media Agreement strike.
The picket will take place at WB Games Inc. in Los Angeles from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. PT, with members asked to gather at Gate 5 of the studio lot.
More from Deadline
Leadership will be in attendance, including SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating (IMA) Committee members Sarah Elmaleh (Chair), Zeke Alton, Ashly Burch, and Andi Norris as well as National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
The picket announcement comes after the rest of the Hollywood unions through their support behind SAG-AFTRA’s latest strike in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The statement came from the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), Directors Guild of America (DGA), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 40 (IBEW), International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 399 (IBT), Laborers International Union of North America Local 724 (LiUNA!), Operating Plasterers & Cement Masons International Association (OPCMIA) Local 755, United Association Plumbers Local 78 (UA), Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW
“For more than 18 months, the SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee has worked in good faith to reach a deal on a new contract with 10 video game producing companies. Despite the committee’s efforts, these employers – who generate billions of dollars in annual profit from 3.2 billion active gamers worldwide – failed to recognize the rights of workers to be protected against the unconstrained rise of artificial intelligence,” the statement read. “These workers have made the difficult choice to strike as they fight for basic AI protections, and we stand with them in solidarity. Our unions understand the need to fight back against the threat of AI. We call on these video game companies to acknowledge the contributions of these performers, and to work toward a future where their work is valued, and their labor cannot be replaced by technology.”
The strike went into effect at midnight on Friday, after more than 18 months of negotiations with the major video game companies on a new deal. The union has been outspoken about how artificial intelligence is the main sticking point in these talks, calling it an “existential threat.”
After just mere hours on strike, several voice actors — including Elmaleh — gathered at San Diego Comic-Con to discuss.
She explained that their proposed contract provisions “are built around consent [and] transparency that provides the basis for a meaningful consent…and proper compensation. We’re willing to work with you, but we need to talk about how this tool is going to be used, and we deserve that right.”
Comic-Con was exempt from the strike rules, meaning that voice actors were free to promote their video game projects at the convention. This picket will kick off in-person actions related to the strike, of which there were surely be more.
The 10 companies facing the strike are Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Epic Games, Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc.
Best of Deadline
'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder' Soundtrack: All the Songs You'll Hear
'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder' Book Vs. TV Show: What's Different?
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
