Washington, July 21: More than 100 protesters from the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) are rallying not too far from the White House where Senator Ed Markey came out to tell them to stay strong, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
The strike against studios and streamers, announced by SAG-AFTRA started last week. The union has said the other side is unwilling to offer workers a fair deal and to protect their livelihoods. The workers are striking for better pay and protections against artificial intelligence.
“It is absolutely imperative that the workers stay out here until they get a fair deal,” Markey said on Thursday to the demonstrators gathered at the Black Lives Matter plaza. “Stay strong!”
The protest is peaceful and there is not an enhanced police presence in sight.
Ten participants are holding banners reading “Union Strong,” “Solidarity,” and “Stay strong.” The participants are greeting passer byes with cheering while passing cars are beeping.
SAG-AFTRA on its website says companies represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) – which include Amazon, Apple, Disney, Fox, Netflix, among others – are more committed to making Wall Street happy than protecting workers.
The union said it wants an 11% general wage increase in year one so workers can recover from record inflation.
SAG-AFTRA also said performers need the protection of their images and performances to prevent replacement of human performances by artificial intelligence technology.
(UNI)
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