A nearly year-long strike by voice actors against 11 video game companies will come to an end thanks to a labor accord announced Monday.
The deal, reached Saturday morning, ends a strike that began Oct. 21, 2016.
“This is an important advance in this critical industry space,” SAG- AFTRA union president Gabrielle Carteris said. “We secured a number of gains including, for the first time, a secondary payment structure, which was one of the members’ key concerns. The courage of our members and their fortitude these many months has been admirable and I salute them.”
The tentative three-year deal is expected to be reviewed by the SAG- AFTRA national board in October and eventually sent to union members for ratification.
“We want to thank our counterparts at SAG-AFTRA for their efforts to conclude this labor dispute and reach a deal that will bring SAG-AFTRA members back to work on upcoming video game projects,” said Scott Witlin, chief negotiator for the video game companies. “The (companies) and SAG-AFTRA both worked hard to reach this deal and end the strike.”
According to the companies, the pact includes a “substantial” pay increase for performers, with bumps in both session fees and additional compensation that is tied to a performer’s contribution to a particular game.
Union officials said the deal includes a bonus structure that will boost payments to performers based on the number of sessions worked per game, beginning with a $75 payment on the first session and totaling $2,100 after 10 sessions are worked.
Both sides said the deal also includes commitments on performer safety, including vocal stress.
–City News Service