Communications and marketing staffers at SAG-AFTRA have signed their unionization cards with the National Organization of Legal Services Workers and have asked the actors union to voluntarily recognize their new bargaining unit.
The bargaining unit includes, among other roles, SAG-AFTRA’s writers, magazine staff, social media team, audio and video producers, event planners, publicity personnel.
The unionization effort comes as staffers at Writers Guild of America West have been on strike for more than a month in search of their first labor contract, staging picket lines outside of the WGA’s own contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The Writers Guild Staff Union is pushing for a uniform pay structure as well as stronger protections against termination and AI adoption, among other issues.
“SAG-AFTRA’s award-winning Communications and Marketing staff create the messaging, media, audio and images that establish SAG-AFTRA as the world’s most powerful institution for improving the lives of media artists,” said NOLSW president Rachel Thomas in a statement. “NOLSW is proud to stand with this team as they seek the wages, working conditions and A.I. guardrails they deserve.”
More to come…