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A group of prominent actors signed a public letter declaring that they would rather remain on strike than accept a bad deal.
Thousands of stars, including Sarah Paulson, Chelsea Handler, Christian Slater, Sandra Oh, Daveed Diggs and Kal Penn, signed the letter to the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee.
“In June, before we went on strike, a large group of members signed an open letter telling our leaders that we would rather strike than accept a bad deal. Now, more than 100 days after we went on strike, that remains true. As difficult as it is, we would rather stay on strike than accept a bad deal.
“We didn’t come all the way to the cave now. We didn’t quit our job, unpaid, and we didn’t march on picket lines for months just to give up everything we were fighting for.” They added: “We cannot and will not accept a contract that fails to address the vital, existential problems we need.” We all need to fix it.”
Other signatories include Carrie-Anne Moss, Christine Baranski, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kristin Chenoweth, Leslie Odom Jr., Lizzy Caplan, Richard Schiff, Simon Pegg, Timothy Olyphant, Zachary Quinto, Titus Welliver, Simone Helberg, and Rosanna Arquette. , Pamela Adlon, Noah Wyle, Maya Hawke, Margaret Cho, Lena Dunham, Kim Raver, Joshua Jackson, Helen Hunt, David Harewood and Carrie Coon.
The move comes after a separate group of actors including George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Kerry Washington, Tyler Perry, Bradley Cooper, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston, Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Laura Dern, Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon, and Ryan Reynolds. Ariana DeBose made an offer to help end the strike.
Earlier today, Deadline revealed that SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP had agreed to meet again on Friday, with sources saying there was “cautious optimism” about the talks.
complete message (See the two sites here):
To the SAG-AFTRA Negotiating Committee:
Last June, before we went on strike, a large group of members signed an open letter telling our leaders that we would rather go on strike than accept a bad deal.
Now, more than 100 days after our strike, this remains true. As difficult as this is, we would rather stay on strike than accept a bad deal.
We haven’t made it all the way to the cave now. We didn’t quit our job, without pay, nor did we march on picket lines for months just to give up everything we were fighting for. We cannot and will not accept a contract that fails to address the vital, existential problems we all need to fix.
In any union, there will always be a minority who are unwilling to make temporary sacrifices for the common good. But we, the majority who voted overwhelmingly to authorize this strike, still stand in solidarity, ready to strike no matter what it takes, and to endure whatever we must in order to win an agreement worthy of our collective sacrifices. We know that our union leaders are doing everything they can to achieve this goal and are negotiating in good faith with companies to reach a new contract that will protect us and our fellow artists, now and for generations to come.
Everything we have as a union – every minimum pay, health and pension benefits, residuals, royalties, workplace protections – has all been won on the strength of our members; The power of our solidarity; The power of standing together to demand what is right, what is just, and what we deserve. You have our trust, support and strength behind you now.
One day longer. One day stronger. As long as it takes.
In solidarity with,
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