Video Game Voice Actors Are About To Go On Strike (UPDATE)

Remember back in September of 2015 when there were talks about a voice actor strike ?  Well it looks like thats about to happen. The national board of directors for SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) has called a strike starting at midnight on October 21 for members performing video game work. This includes voice actors, mo-cap actors, and more. The union is currently in contract negotiations with game publishers, and hopes to address actors' working conditions. According to SAG-AFTRA, the issues include royalties, stressful vocal sessions, and more transparency about jobs. For their part, the publishers want to fine actors for tardiness or "inattentiveness," fine agents who don't send clients out to all requested auditions, the ability to hire non-union voice actors, and more. The strike order specifically mentions publisher/developers such as Electronic Arts, Take 2, Activision, and WB Games, among others, but SAG-AFTRA members working on games in production as of February 17 are exempt from the order. Thoughts ?

UPDATE 10/21/16 - The SAG-AFTRA union has officially called for a voice-actor strike against gaming companies including Activision, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two. The decision will affect games that went into production after February 17, 2015. “Through many months of bargaining with interactive employers, we have not reached a fair agreement covering SAG-AFTRA performers working in video games – often the most popular games in the world. Our members have been clear, now is the time for employers to negotiate a modern contract that covers this highly profitable industry,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris in a statement released to Deadline on Sunday night. “A strike is not to be entered into lightly, but when the employers leave us with no recourse, we must stand firm for our members. It is imperative that we secure for them the protections, compensation and benefits they deserve.” Scott J. Witlin of the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg LLP that represents the game publishers issued the following statement:

“We have negotiated in good faith for the past 18 months with SAG-AFTRA union leaders, and are making progress toward a new contract,” said . “We are deeply disappointed to learn today of the union’s threatened strike and its unilateral violation of the mutually agreed upon ‘news black-out’ on negotiation discussions.”

We consider the Union’s threatened labor action to call a strike precipitous, unnecessary and an action that will only harm their membership. SAG-AFTRA represents performers in less than 25% of the video games on the market. Any strike would not only deny SAG-AFTRA’s membership work, but this would also give their competitors, who do not engage union talent, a leg up while any strike would be in place.

The Video Game Companies had already scheduled bargaining sessions this week with SAG-AFTRA union leaders to attempt to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. We expect these negotiations to remain in place, and will continue to attempt to reach a fair and equitable contract despite the Union leadership’s most recent threatened labor action.

The existing contract between Video Game Companies and SAG-AFTRA pays all performers more than $100 an hour plus benefits and most performers many times that. The Companies’ current proposals on the negotiation table includes wage increases for most performers and additional avenues for compensation that could yield many hundreds of dollars more in payments for limited integration and ratification bonuses. Although the Companies have had only one report of workplace injury due to vocal stress, the Companies have continued to look to ways to reduce the burdens on performers in this area through the more flexible work scheduling and other innovative work arrangements.

We want to draw attention to the increased economic benefits and working condition improvements being offered because SAG-AFTRA’s website is inaccurate and out of date and does not reflect offers some of which have been on the table for more than a year.

It is important to note that the Video Game Companies’ upcoming games are already in production and the majority will be unaffected by any SAG-AFTRA strike due to the nature of the ‘no strike provisions’ of the collective bargaining agreement. We anticipate minimal impact on current and near-future game releases.

We produce Interactive Video Games for the enjoyment of people around the world and as a result we provide excellent jobs for many SAG-AFTRA members. Reaching a reasonable agreement is in the best interest of all parties, as well as the many fans of our games.”

UPDATE 11/3/16 - A group of video game companies affected by the strike (such as Activision, EA, Take-Two and WB Games), issued a statement criticizing some of the tactics SAG-AFTRA used during negotiations on their website, specifically citing the union keeping its members in the dark about what was actually happening at the negotiating table. Here’s the statement: 

SAG-AFTRA has launched a strike against the very Video Game Companies that are the biggest advocates and largest clients of SAG-AFTRA talent in an industry that overwhelmingly uses non-union performers.

This is a strike that did not have to happen

SAG-AFTRA never communicated to its membership what was on the table when, on October 19, it declined to counter the Companies’ last proposal and pushed away from the negotiations.

Our offer of a 9% wage increase accelerates the entire payment into the first year – an improvement over the three-year, 3% per year increase that the Union was seeking. It also includes for the first time Additional Compensation for Principal Performers (who work on more than one session on a game).

This structure for Additional Compensation is so close to what SAG-AFTRA is demanding monetarily that we believe most performers would conclude the differences are not worth striking over.

Our Offer of Significant Economic Benefits expires December 1, 2016
Two of the Companies’ proposals – the accelerated 9% wage increase and the Additional Compensation structure- are proposed as bonuses for timely ratification.

That means that if SAG-AFTRA fails to ratify the Companies’ Comprehensive Revised and Enhanced Final Package Proposal (of the evening of October 18, 2016) by December 1, 2016, these significant economic benefits will no longer be part of the package. This is a time-sensitive offer and we urge members to consider it now.

Our Offer on Transparency and Vocal Stress

The Video Game Companies have released these proposals so that the video game community can actually see and evaluate what is on the table.

We have also prepared a comparison chart. The chart shows that in the key areas SAG-AFTRA has raised as strike issues – such as vocal stress and stunt coordination – our positions, are in fact, identical

Virtually Identical Compensation Proposals
The one economic difference between the parties is the Companies’ response to the SAG-AFTRA demand for additional income for performers. But here the difference is more about semantics – not about actual money for performers. The main difference is the terminology – what that additional money is called.

The SAG-AFTRA proposal has two options for game producers. The Union’s first proposal for an optional ‘contingent fees’ structure is so onerous that no one would elect to use it. The Union’s second option is virtually identical in money to the Companies’ proposal.

While the Companies will not call that money a ‘buyout of contingent compensation,’ they will pay it to Principal Performers who work more than one session on a game. SAG-AFTRA seeks to have performers rewarded for their contribution. The Companies want the same – and have made an equitable offer that Union leaders inexplicably refuse to allow members to evaluate or even communicate broadly among membership.

There is another notable difference between the positions and it is one with a real-world impact: The Companies’ proposal is guaranteed money to the performers (who work more than one session on a game) paid at the time the game launches and is not in any way a choice by the video game producer or dependent on the success of failure of the title, so much of which is outside of a performer’s control.

SAG-AFTRA: Let Your Members Vote and Decide
The Companies have repeatedly asked Union leaders to put this package to a vote of their membership. The Union has refused, stating that Union leaders have the right to conduct a strike without further authorization from the membership. It is unfortunate that SAG-AFTRA leadership is relying on a strike vote taken more than a year ago (October 6, 2015), before the Companies made significant concessions in the areas discussed above (vocal stress, stunt coordination, transparency) and before the Companies put this generous economic proposal on the table.

The Video Game Companies are deeply disappointed that Union leadership is preventing the talent we value so highly from working on games that the player community loves.

SAG-AFTRA: Let your members vote on the Companies’ proposal. A prolonged strike only benefits non-union video game producers and non-union performance interests within the video game industry. It will also discourage the unorganized majority of developers and publishers from working with SAG-AFTRA in the future.