New York City Central Labor Council

07/26/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 07/26/2024 07:08

Take Action: Support SAG-AFTRA Video Game Performers on Strike

The actors who breathe life into the video games you love are facing an existential threat - and that's why they've gone on strike effective at 12:01 this morning. Since October 2022, SAG-AFTRA has been in negotiations with a convenience bargaining group, which includes Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc. After more than a year and a half of negotiations, it's clear the video game companies won't listen to their workers without a show of force.

In an industry infamous for treating their workers as expendable, these employers seem to view performers as obstacles to their profits, rather than partners who help make it all possible. The companies have refused to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language. They want to replace the artistry, imagination and ingenuity of human storytelling with machine-generated performances and are banking on players not caring. To put it simply: to accept their provisions would not only put these workers' ability to earn a living at risk, but fuel a race to the bottom for the quality of storytelling in video games. Please click here to add your voice to the chorus of those who support SAG-AFTRA video game performers on strike, and read more about the strike here.