Yahoo News UK Unions & Crew Join London Protest Calling For Swift Resolution To Actors Strike
“It’s like The Hunger Games, the AMPTP thinks they can starve us back to work,” said Bectu National Secretary Spencer MacDonald, as around 200 below-the-line workers gathered in London’s Leicester Square this afternoon to urge a swift end to the actors strike.
MacDonald was bullish, however, in the face of a possible resolution in the coming days, telling studio bosses across the pond: “Every single time, we win these disputes.”
More from Deadline
SAG-AFTRA & Studios Negotiations To Continue Friday & Next Week; Talks Proceeding "Calmly"
SAG-AFTRA's Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Heads To New York Comic Con For AI Discussion
“We need to remind employers that by dragging their heels and digging themselves in all they are doing is digging a bigger hole for themselves,” he added. “And we want to talk about the impact on our membership.”
Although unions in the UK are forbidden to join foreign strikes by tight labor laws, a recent Bectu survey found that an incredible 80% of UK crew felt they had been impacted by what is happening in the States, and Bectu has been calling for financial support from the government and AMPTP.
Speaking to Deadline after the rally speeches had ended, MacDonald, who was standing in for unwell Bectu Head Philippa Childs, said there is more to come in the longer term.
“The SAG resolution is medium term and then there is the longer term plan in terms of making sure people are supported,” he added. “So we will be doing campaigning and lobbying to make sure this doesn’t happen again because we’ve been through it twice – once with Covid-19 and now with the current situation.”
MacDonald called on the UK government and producers for more support, adding: “The workers we represent should be better supported because from what we’ve seen they’ve been suspended in a force majeure and abandoned by the productions.”
MacDonald spoke to the crowds alongside Bectu officials from costume, extras, unscripted and VFX branches, and was flanked by reps from actors union Equity and the Trades Union Congress.
Charlotte Sewell, from the Bectu costume and wardrobe branch, delivered an impassioned speech in which she said the very survival of her trade is under threat.
“We must look at how our UK crews can survive,” she added. “We’ve been stopped for far too long, leaving gaps first in our finances and soon to all our screens. Who wants to watch Gogglebox when the contestants will have nothing to watch?”
Sewell said family and friends have continuously asked her why the UK is being impacted so badly by labor action across the pond, to which she said: “The public do not always understand how our films and shows get made, and what and whom goes into making them.”
Homeless members
Blair Barnette, who runs the British Film Designer’s Guild, meanwhile, said she has received two emails today from members who have just become homeless.
“That should not be the case in a situation like this, in a country like this, with so much great talent right here on our own turf,” she added. “Employers must act responsibly for the welfare of all of us. The impact on mental health and wellbeing has just been huge.”
From the VFX branch, Pia Josephson, who has worked on the likes of Apple TV+’s Prehistoric Planet, said the “AMPTP know we are not unionized and they use that.”
Following Dune VFX firm DNEG’s high-profile pay offer, which has been slammed by the unions, she pointed to slow signs of improvement, with the likes of Disney and Marvel VFX unionizing in the states.
“But we are worried that we will be used once the actors have struck a deal,” she added.
SAG-AFTRA and the studios will meet later today and negotiations are understood to be proceeding “calmly,” according to Deadline’s latest report.
Best of Deadline
SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreements: Full List Of Movies And TV Series
TV Cancellations Photo Gallery: Series Ending In 2023 & Beyond
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
