SAG-AFTRA Members Approve Three-Year Deal with Hollywood Studios

SAG-AFTRA members have voted to ratify the tentative three-year contract with major Hollywood studios and streaming companies.

The deal was green-lit by a vote of 78.33 percent to 21.67 percent with a turnout of 38.15 percent; the new agreement will take effect retroactive to June 9, and will extend to June 30, 2026.

“I’m proud of our SAG-AFTRA membership. They struck for 118 days to grant the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee the necessary leverage to secure over $1 billion in gains, along with the union’s first-ever protections around AI technology. Now they’ve locked in the gains by ratifying the contract,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher in a statement. “This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful.”

The guild’s executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland added, “SAG-AFTRA members demanded a fundamental change in the way this industry treats them: fairness in compensation for their labor, protection from abusive use of AI technology, strengthened benefit plans, and equitable and respectful treatment for all members.”

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers issued its own statement on Tuesday, congratulating the union and the deal’s “historic gains and protections for performers.”

SAG-AFTRA valued the new contract at over $1 billion; the agreement raises minimum wage rates by 7 percent in the first year, and 4 percent and 3.5 percent in the years after. Among the deal’s terms are new guardrails for the use of artificial intelligence — detailing informed consent and compensation, “meaningful” protections during the casting process, sexual harassment prevention protections, and a new compensation model for performers working in streaming.