SAG-AFTRA Chief Negotiator on Day 40 of Actors Strike: ‘The CEOs Need to Be Involved’

variety.com:

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor As SAG-AFTRA clocked its 40th day on strike, the union’s chief negotiator has called for leaders of Hollywood’s major studios and streamers to step in to bring the sides to a new deal and get the industry back to work.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive secretary and its chief negotiator, said the union has had outreach from industry insiders who aim to help with basic communication between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. “There is some back-channeling going on but nothing formally from the AMPTP,” Crabtree-Ireland told Variety on Tuesday after the SAG-AFTRA held a Day of Solidarity rally next to the Disney lot in Burbank.

The gathering drew several thousand participants to Keystone Street in Burbank, including local labor leaders and members of laborers union LIUNA, the Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America and stars of “The West Wing.” Crabtree-Ireland said the outreach that will make the biggest difference hasn’t happened yet. “There are conversations that happen primarily with the goal of getting us back to the table.

Because I firmly believe that the CEOs need to be involved in order to get these deals across the finish line, and to really bring a sense of change that’s necessary to make these contracts fair for our members,” he said.