On Friday, SAG-AFTRA’s national board of directors will review the tentative contract that was reached this week.
Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told L.A.’s Morning News he expects the board “will be inclined to receive it favorably.”
“I think there are really amazing accomplishments in this agreement that I think we shall be very proud of and so, I'm hopeful that the board will see it that way,” he said.
Crabtree-Ireland echoed union President Fran Drescher in saying that the deal was a “billion-plus dollar deal,” and added that it sets the ground for the future, including A.I. protections.
“I do think that the protections that we have accomplished in this deal will protect our members against just, just being turned into pixels,” he said. “And I think that is probably one of the things that our members will be most excited about in this deal.”
He said the approach taken with A.I. this time was by creating principles that the union believed would work in the “technology evolution.”
“For example, the principle of informed consent, the principle of her compensation for this kind of use,” he said. “And so what this agreement establishes is if you're gonna replicate an actor using digital technology of any kind, including artificial intelligence, you have to get their consent and it has to be real consent, informed consent where they know what it is that's gonna be done with that replica.”
He added that even as technology evolves, the principle will be preserved in the contract.
Crabtree-Ireland said there is a plan for the union to celebrate the end of its 118-day strike, but that he took a moment to reflect on those days on the picket line.
“I did take a moment to really pause and appreciate the fact that after 118 days on strike, we were able to in the end, achieve the protections that we needed and the advances that we needed and really reflect on how much sacrifice has been made by the workers in this industry,” he said.
He added that he celebrated the tentative deal being reached with a beer.
SAG-AFTRA will hold a press conference at 2 P.M. Friday.
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