Actors union agrees to 11th hour mediation effort, but strike still looms

By Chris Isidore and Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN

New York (CNN) — The union representing 160,000 actors said on Tuesday it has agreed to a request from studios and streaming services to meet with federal mediators over contract negotiations but is still prepared to go on strike at 11:59 pm PDT on Wednesday unless a deal is reached.

“We will not be distracted from negotiating in good faith to secure a fair and just deal by the expiration of our agreement,” said the statement from SAG-AFTRA, the actors union. “We are committed to the negotiating process and will explore and exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal, however we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement.”

The union has already granted one extension to its contract, which was originally due to expire on July 1. If they go on strike, they will be joining more than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America on picket lines against major studios and streaming services. The writers have been on strike for more than two months.

There was no comment about the mediation request or its acceptance from the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), which is negotiating on behalf of the studios, including Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), CBS (VIAC), Disney (DIS), NBC Universal, Netflix (NFLX), Paramount Global, Sony (SNE) and CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.

SAG-AFTRA said that news reports were published about management’s desire for mediation even before the request was made of union negotiators at the bargaining table.

“The AMPTP has abused our trust and damaged the respect we have for them in this process,” said the union’s statement. “We will not be manipulated by this cynical ploy to engineer an extension when the companies have had more than enough time to make a fair deal.”

Asked about that statement from SAG-AFTRA, the AMPTP declined to comment.

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