A group of A-list actors led by George Clooney presented a proposal to SAG-AFTRA leadership during a Tuesday afternoon Zoom call in an effort to find a way to resolve the three-month-old actors strike with the studios. But the proposal is likely dead on arrival.
Sources with knowledge of the situation say the group of some 15 stars, which includes Tyler Perry and Scarlett Johansson, held a follow-up call last night with SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee. “It didn’t go well,” says one of the sources, adding that the committee “didn’t see the validity” of the group’s proposal.
After Tuesday’s Zoom, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland met with the union’s negotiating committee to discuss the stars’ proposal, which called for removing the cap on dues in a bid to bring more than $50 million to the union annually and $150 million over three years. They suggested a bottom-up residual structure whereby top earners would be the last to collect residuals rather than the first.
But their pitch found no traction, say the sources, leaving the A-listers group feeling dejected. “They don’t understand why there isn’t just a mediation,” says one of the sources.
SAG-AFTRA is expected to issue a statement today with regards to the stalemate with the A-listers.
As Variety previously reported, several sources say the group, which also includes Emma Stone and Ben Affleck, have been feeling discontented within the guild ever since talks broke down with the studios. They are looking for a path to jumpstart negotiations amid the economically devastating strike.
But members of the negotiating committee say the part of the proposal pertaining to member dues is not directly relevant to the issues that have stymied negotiations with the studios. “I’ll reach out to George to talk to him,” says David Jolliffe, a member of the negotiating committee. “We appreciate everybody’s help. Everybody has ideas. But we’ve been doing this for almost a year now.”
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s chief negotiator, stopped by the Disney picket lines Thursday morning to show support for strike captains. In an interview there, he said that leadership is willing to hear and consider ideas from members.
“No one has indicated any lack of unity or support that I’m aware of,” Crabtree-Ireland said. “And I don’t think having a suggestion or an idea is an indication of a lack of support… I think it’s unfortunate if people misconstrue that as some sort of interference or some sort of lack of confidence in the negotiating committee because that’s just not the case.”
Crabtree-Ireland also said that the union regularly engages with members, and the only reason anyone pays attention is that the union includes many of the most famous people in the world.
“If we were a union that didn’t have so much press attention on us, we would have these kinds of internal conversations all the time and no one would even know about it,” he said.
He also acknowledged there is frustration about the ongoing strike.
“I think everyone would like this to be over with,” he said. “There’s no one who wants this to continue. But I also think everyone recognizes that that’s only going to happen with a fair deal.”
Jolliffe and a group of other negotiating committee members came to Amazon on Thursday to thank strike captains for their work. The leaders are also encouraging SAG-AFTRA members to show their support for the strike by picketing.
Jodi Long, president of the Los Angeles local, notes that the studio security guards are keeping count of how many people come out to picket every day.
“You have to also realize our members are working other jobs, especially now that it’s gone on so long,” she says.
Frances Fisher, another negotiating committee member, echoed that message.
“There are people who are working two and three jobs,” Fisher says. “There is no shame in not being able to show up. But if somebody has a couple hours, it would be great to show solidarity, because these strike captains who we’re honoring today have been out here every single day.”
Fisher and Long both declined to comment on Clooney’s proposal.
But others saw the fact that the A-listers’ failed attempt to help restart negotiations with the studios highlights a deeper problem with the vision of the guild’s negotiating committee.
“I think it’s pretty tough for [SAG-AFTRA] to not acknowledge that [the A-listers] witnessed their thinking and their strategy and didn’t come away from it thinking, ‘OK they’ve got this. They’ve got a plan,’” says one source familiar with the Wednesday call.
