Hollywood has more union employees organizing its work.
Amid an ongoing Writers Guild of America West employee strike, communications and marketing workers for the performers union SAG-AFTRA announced Thursday their intention to join the national organization of legal services workers, United Auto Workers Local 2320.
According to the national union, which actually represents organizers at SAG-AFTRA, the majority of employees have signed union authorization cards.
NOLSW is trying to organize a group of about 16 people including writers, magazine staff, social media workers, audio and video producers, event planners, publicists and others.
“SAG-AFTRA’s award-winning communications and marketing staff create the messages, media, audio and images that make SAG-AFTRA the world’s most powerful organization to improve the lives of media artists,” NOLSW President Rachel Thomas said in a statement. “NOLSW is proud to stand with this team as they strive to get the wages, working conditions, and AI barriers they deserve.”
Hollywood Reporter SAG-AFTRA has reached out for comment.
Two main drivers of union efforts are employees seeking better wages and bans on the use of generative AI in member communications and public-facing work. In a statement to THR“With the high cost of living in Los Angeles, many of us are struggling to make ends meet on our current wages,” the union’s organizing committee said. “Additionally, we want to ensure that SAG-AFTRA members always have access to top-notch, man-made content from their union,” the committee added.
The announcement comes as SAG-AFTRA takes a break from negotiations with major studios and streamers in Hollywood over its upcoming three-year film and TV deal, with talks scheduled to resume later this spring. Because so many union workers are involved in some part of these negotiations, this timing should improve the leverage of workers, who are seeking voluntary recognition from their employer rather than elections at the National Labor Relations Board.
The union’s goals mirror those of SAG-AFTRA in its ongoing negotiations, where guardrails on generative AI and increased compensation for performance workers are key issues.
WGA West provides an example of what can happen if the two sides do not reach an agreement. The union’s weeks-long strike coincided with ongoing negotiations with AMPTP, leaving the union without the full staff it would normally have during the negotiation period. Employees have been protesting the building where the negotiations are taking place — which, ironically, is the SAG-AFTRA building — for more than a week.
