The Negotiating Room: Behind the Scenes of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA Strike
When I was asked to speak on the Pop Culture Confidential podcast, we were only a week into the strike. If you live outside of Los Angeles, it is hard to overstate the physical toll of that period. While the media dubbed it the #HotLaborSummer, the reality on the ground was grueling; union members and strike captains were regularly collapsing from heat exhaustion on the picket lines.
If you saw photos of actors smiling on social media, you might have wondered if we were “too happy” to be on strike. But context matters. For many of us, this was the first time we had seen our colleagues in person since the 2020 lockdowns. Those early days were marked by a sense of relief and reunion—but make no mistake: no one was happy to be there.
The Weight of the Room
Our negotiations began in the final week of May 2023. By the time we officially walked out, we had already endured six weeks of closed-door sessions, grueling days of proposals and rebuttals, and a 12-day extension granted to the AMPTP. Unlike the 2020 negotiations, which lasted roughly eight weeks, 2023 felt like a marathon with no finish line in sight.
I found myself in a unique position as the Chair of the L.A. Organizing Committee. Because SAG-AFTRA hadn’t executed a strike in 40 years, there was a perceptible lack of institutional experience. Leveraging my background with The Actor’s Network, I felt a responsibility to assist both staff and volunteers in navigating the logistical and emotional complexities of the line.
A Geographical Nightmare
Picketing in Los Angeles is a logistical feat. We targeted seven major studio locations—Disney, Warner Bros., Netflix, Sony, Amazon, and FOX—to maximize visibility and disruption. While cities like New York and Atlanta benefited from efficient public transit, our efforts were a constant battle against L.A. traffic.
The Reality of High-Stakes Bargaining
I often hear younger members say they want to join the negotiating committee because “it sounds like fun.” My response is simple: listen to this podcast and realize that you are holding the fate of 160,000 of your peers in your hands. Contract negotiations are not “fun.” They are an overwhelming sea of legal codification and complex calculations.
The “Too Many Chefs” Dilemma
Our committee consisted of 44 individuals, balancing a hybrid of in-person and Zoom presence. Managing 44 different levels of experience and strategy is inherently exhausting.
To put the scale of 2023 into perspective: in 2020, we negotiated roughly 22 contract items. In 2023, that list ballooned to 49—which, when broken down by our staff, actually represented closer to 150 individual items. This was the most aggressive and economically vast negotiation package in SAG-AFTRA history.