SAG-AFTRA Members Vote To Authorize Video Game Workers Strike

SAG-AFTRA members have voted to authorize a strike among video game voice actors and performers, a group of workers who weren’t part of the original actors strike that began back in July.

How did we get here? Since October of last year, SAG-AFTRA has been in Interactive Media Agreement negotiations with the following signatory video game companies: Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Epic Games, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc. Earlier this month, SAG-AFTRA’s national board unanimously decided to send a strike authorization vote to its 160,000-person membership.

How did the vote turn out? Over a quarter of SAG-AFTRA members participated in the vote, and of those that did, 98.32% (34,104 members) voted in favor of authorizing a strike. The authorization vote doesn’t mean that the union is calling a strike right now or that one is guaranteed, only that it can call for one if necessary.

Why does the guild think a strike is necessary? SAG-AFTRA says that throughout the negotiations, the gaming companies have refused to offer “acceptable terms on some of the issues most critical to our members.” Those issues include, but aren’t limited to, wages that match inflation, AI protections, and basic safety precautions.

What’s next? The next bargaining session between SAG-AFTRA begins today and is scheduled to run through September 28. If the sides can’t come to an agreement, a strike is a genuine possibility.

What are they saying? SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a release:

It’s time for the video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract. The result of this vote shows our membership understands the existential nature of these negotiations, and that the time is now for these companies — which are making billions of dollars and paying their CEOs lavishly — to give our performers an agreement that keeps performing in video games as a viable career.