SAG-AFTRA President Clarifies Proposal Terms from George Clooney to End Strike

Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) Fran Drescher provided clarity to the terms handed out by a collective of Hollywood A-listers that would have ended the guild's 98-day strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

In a video posted on her Instagram, Drescher said that the offer from the group of actors, led by two-time Academy Award winner George Clooney, would not protect its guild members similar to how a legally binding contract would.

Clooney, along with other major Hollywood names such as Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johannson, Emma Stone and Tyler Perry, pooled in at least $150 million dollars and offered the sum to the union to lift its dues caps.

Clooney's group proposes a solution

SAG-AFTRA president Drescher along with SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland met with the Academy Award-winning collective through a Zoom meeting earlier this week to discuss Clooney's solution.

The pooled money will lift the $1 million membership dues cap and will be paid for three years, which amounts to an annual $50 million fund injection to the union.

Apart from the funding, Clooney's group also proposed a restructuring of earnings coming from a show or a film's residuals.

Clooney said in the meeting: "We also are suggesting a bottom-up residual structure — meaning the top of the call sheet would be the last to collect residuals, not the first."

Clooney also expressed solidarity for the members in the picket lines. He said: "These negotiations will be ongoing, but we wanted to show that we're all in this together and find ways to help close the gap on actors getting paid."

In an interview with Deadline, Clooney confirmed that they went to talk with the guild. "A lot of the top earners want to be part of the solution," said the Hollywood star.

Why the solution can't happen

Drescher appreciated the meeting with Clooney's group and was grateful for the support from Hollywood's biggest stars.

But Drescher explained on her Instagram why it would be difficult to adopt Clooney's proposal. In the video, she detailed: "We are a federally regulated labour union and the only contributions that can go into our pension and health funds must be from the employer. So what we are fighting for in terms of benefits has to remain in this contract."

Drescher also addressed that there would be a legal stumbling block should the guild adopt the residual structure from Clooney and his group's proposal.

Drescher said: "There was a reference to a suggestion of maybe a solution from some people of how maybe we can get back to the table with some kind of a residual. But that was vetted by our very experienced union contract staff negotiators and lawyers. And they said that it unfortunately doesn't hold water because, frankly, this is a very nuanced house of cards."

Drescher remains hopeful that talks between their guild and the AMPTP can continue to finally arrange a fair deal between the two organisations.

Drescher said in the video: "We appreciate the effort and the desire to be supportive to all the member body, we at the union and with the negotiating committee are still waiting for the CEOs to return to the table so we can continue our talks."