in mid-July, joining Writers Guild of America-represented screenwriters who have been on the picket line since early May.
SAG-AFTRA said that it has held five separate, multiday bargaining sessions with an industry bargaining group consisting of signatory video game companies.The game companies have failed to address members’ needs on issues of artificial intelligence, wages and safety, the union said. The contract expiredMore bargaining dates are scheduled for the end of the month.
Workers are also asking for the same increase in wages sought in the film and TV contracts — a raise they said is key to keeping pace with inflation. The negotiating committee has asked for an 11% increase retroactive to the expiration of the last contract, as well as a 4% increase in the second and third years of the agreement.
Postcards with instructions on how to vote online were mailed Sept. 5, the union said. Voting will close at 5 p.m. PT on Sept. 25.The industry bargaining group of signatory video game companies includes Activision Productions Inc; Blindlight LLC; Disney Character Voices Inc.; Electronic Arts Productions Inc.; Epic Games Inc.; Formosa Interactive LLC; Insomniac Games Inc.; Take 2 Productions Inc.; VoiceWorks Productions Inc.; and WB Games Inc.
During that strike, SAG-AFTRA targeted 11 companies, including divisions of Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Take 2, Insomniac Games, Warner Bros. and Disney. The video game strike, which lasted just over a year, marked the first major act of defiance from SAG-AFTRA following the merger of Hollywood’s two largest actors unions in 2012.in recent years, many of them quality assurance workers who have decried so-called “crunch” periods that lead up to a game’s release.