Actors vote to approve deal that ended strike, bringing relief to union leaders and Hollywood

Hollywood’s actors have voted to ratify the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months, bringing an official finish to the labor strife that shook the entertainment industry for most of 2023.

The approval of the three-year contract from the members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced Tuesday night by union leaders was no certainty, with some prominent members voicing dissent on the deal their negotiators bargained for.

The 78% yes result in voting that began Nov. 13 and ended Tuesday was a far cry from the near-unanimous approval and widespread enthusiasm members of the writers guild gave to the deal that ended their strike in September.

But the outcome is a major relief for SAG-AFTRA leaders and an entertainment industry that is attempting to return to normal after months of labor strife. And it brings a final, official end to Hollywood labor’s most tumultuous year in half a century, with two historic strikes that shook the industry.

Just over 38% of members cast votes, SAG-AFTRA said. All 145,000 members could vote on the deal, not just the approximately 60,000 TV and movie actors who went on strike and work under the contract.

“I’m very happy with the result," Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA's executive director and chief negotiator, told The Associated Press Tuesday night. “I think having almost an 80% ‘yes’ vote with almost a 40% turnout for our members, that’s really unprecedented for any kind of contract where it’s not just a unanimous chorus of yeses.”

A rejection of the agreement would have meant a return to the bargaining table and, with that, the possibility of the actors going back on strike if leaders called for it.

The union had freed actors to return to work, declaring the strike over as soon as the tentative deal was struck Nov. 8 with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies in union negotiations. Two days later, it was approved by the guild’s board with an 86% vote.

“The AMPTP member companies congratulate SAG-AFTRA on the ratification of its new contract, which represents historic gains and protections for performers," the AMPTP said in a statement Tuesday night. "With this vote, the industry and the jobs it supports will be able to return in full force.”