Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (Memphis, Tennessee, 1972) slept little. Especially last night, but he hasn’t done much in the last three weeks either. The US Actors Union’s chief negotiator has sat in the offices of major Hollywood film and television studios for days trying to improve the futures of the 160,000 actors from the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (the group merged in 2012 is known by the name SAG-AFTRA He is the man who can be seen in the photos in a discreet background alongside Media President Fran Drescher (known for her role in The Nanny series) but who is targeting the media reacts, knows the data and has well-founded answers to all questions.
After the big press conference that took place in SAG-AFTRA’s large building in the city of Los Angeles (which alone houses around 500 employees in these main offices as well as in a dozen other cities), Crabtree-Ireland has who he is he is also national manager of the union and receives EL PAÍS for the interview, which will be carried out jointly with the EFE agency, in a large office on the second floor to speak in Spanish. He’s been learning it at school since he was nine and is perfecting it on a podcast the union has in Spanish, which he’s presenting alongside two actresses. As with any good American performance, his team is already preparing shirts and banners, only to begin picketing a short time later, merchandising they distribute around the room to make it look good. And for the first time that day, he takes off his black cap that says “Chief Negotiator” and shakes his head to sit down and chat.
More information
Questions. They have weeks of negotiations ahead of them. Last night [por la madrugada del miércoles, cuando no hubo acuerdo con la patronal] They finished very late. How are you, other than exhausted? How do you see the situation?
Answer. The best thing about working in a union is that we fight for the rights of workers and people who need union protection. And in this case, we’re fighting against huge, multinational corporations, and I think whatever we’re asking for is totally reasonable and totally fair.
Q In a statement, the alliance of film and television producers says it has offered historic pay increases, including what it believes to be the highest increase in the minimum wage in 35 years or a 76 percent increase in so-called residuals. [los ingresos que generan series y películas tras su estreno: venta de derechos, DVDs…] Is not enough?
R That is not right. They use a microscope to look at a work of art as a whole, but looking at the painting as a whole is not the truth. The truth is that we are asking for an 11% increase in the minimum wage and will not accept it for more than 5%. And that increase assumes members will continue to work in 2026 for less than they earned in 2020. It is not a contract [colectivo] It’s very safe and not historic for them to change the industry, but they don’t want to change the contracts to allow actors and actresses to earn enough to sustain their careers.
Q But then what do these numbers relate to, the increases of 58% and 76% of speakers respectively? They lie?
R I haven’t seen the papers that say that. For the minimum wage, however, there is only an offer of 5% in the general minimum wage. And there is also a bit more offer for extras, almost 10%, but only for extras. There is no 58% minimum wage increase in your offer. It’s not the truth. They’re trying to convince the public that they’re offering something legitimate, and if there’s a legitimate offering, we say yes, but they didn’t give it to us. We don’t want a strike, we want a contract, but there isn’t one.
Fran Drescher and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, principal directors of actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, during the news conference announcing a strike July 13 at their offices in Los Angeles, California. MIKE BLAKE (Portal)
Q You said you work for “people who need protection”. They’re 160,000 people, very diverse, but from the outside you see the big names in Hollywood, people making millions. How can the public understand that and not step back, not be cynical and think that the actors who win Oscars don’t need anyone to protect them?
R We want people and studios to understand. We always try to make this concept understandable. Because the reality is that the vast majority of our members are not very famous and not rich. They are workers trying to pay their mortgages and food, struggling to survive economically. There are also people at a higher level who don’t make as much money as everyone thinks. The industry has changed a lot in the last 10 years and it is very difficult to make a living. For example, in our negotiations, an actor from a series on a streaming platform is one of the protagonists. And he can’t pay the mortgage and he doesn’t have health insurance because he hasn’t earned anything on his contracts for two years and can’t work on other projects during that time. He has to earn his living for three years with an annual salary. One can hardly imagine such a thing.
R [La actriz y presidenta de SAG-AFTRA] Fran Drescher mentioned that if the studios called you today to renegotiate, you’d be up for it, right?
R Yes, yes, today, tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, every day, we are willing to negotiate more. They tell us they don’t want to return to the negotiating table now and probably for a long time. But we believe the only way to reach an agreement is to talk and negotiate. And if they don’t want to talk to us and don’t want to negotiate with us, we will be ready to do so whenever they are ready.
Q Why do you want to wait for them to call you? Have you been told that the doors are open? Can it be mutual?
R Yes / Yes. I can call them and tell them, “We’re ready again.” But they know our doors are open, they have my phone number, and they can always negotiate with us, whenever they want. But they have informed us that they do not want to talk at this time and in the near future. And it’s your decision.
Q So the situation is untenable. When you want to talk, they don’t want to, you go on strike, they still don’t talk… How to solve this? What’s the end of this?
R Well, maybe they’re a little angry right now. Perhaps one day, with calmer minds, they will want to do so in the future. If not, we have relationships with other people in the industry and with other institutions that might be able to help us; for example federal mediators. They have informed us that they intend to take action to ensure that our negotiations continue for the foreseeable future. Perhaps these options can help us continue the discussion, but we will not say yes to any contract that does not respect our members. It’s a requirement.
Q The Writers Union has a fund to support its members on strike. Are you also willing to help actors who need it?
R Yes, we have the SAG-AFTRA Foundation which has an emergency fund for our members and a significant amount of money has been donated to this fund to help members with financial difficulties as a result of this strike.
Q And maybe there are actors who have more money and are now making extraordinary contributions to this fund?
R yes possibly They have caved in to other strikes and other situations in the past. For example during the pandemic. And I hope there’s a good chance they will do it again.
Q Especially when the situation is protracted because it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a short strike. I don’t know if they made any estimate or calculation as to how long the strike could last. if hours…
R No, probably not hours [risas].
Q …when hours, days, weeks, months…
R I don’t know, it’s impossible because they, the companies, can end this strike at any time if they sign the offers we made them. But at the moment there is no sign that they want to. As I said, they don’t want to talk or negotiate with us at the moment. And I think it will probably take us a while to negotiate a fair deal.
Q How is the support between the authors and you? Because you were very present in the writers’ strike, but now you feel more strength with the arrival of SAG-AFTRA.
R Yes, we have a very, very close relationship with the Writers’ Union and the other unions. Also with the directors, with IATSE [el de trabajadores teatrales]the teamsters [de sectores muy diversos, con 110 años y el más grande de EE UU]… And yes, we have been very supportive of the writers’ strike for the past two months and I hope they will be very supportive of us as well. And we’ll see the pickets fail in the studios, too, here in Los Angeles and around the country.
Q One of the most important keys is the question of artificial intelligence. Annual meetings were offered to the authors [para ir actualizando las condiciones con el auge de esta tecnología]. Did they offer you the same?
R Well no. We’ve had a number of very specific suggestions about artificial intelligence and they’ve responded to them, but not in a way that we can accept. As for the extras, for example, you have to cede the rights to the companies for one working day, which they can then use – your picture, your voice – for eternity on any project, without permission, without salary. Not any payment yet… It’s not something anyone can accept. Imagine if someone could use their image for eternity without speaking to you. This is not acceptable. There are some suggestions that are acceptable, but in general your artificial intelligence suggestions are nowhere near acceptable.
Q The fact that the actors are on strike causes the entire city, the state of California, to come to a standstill. Some calculations place losses at around $30 million per day. Do you think that the public, the viewers, should cooperate? Should we go on strike if we go to the cinema or watch streaming platforms?
R At this time we are not calling for a public boycott. What we want is for them to understand the struggle we are fighting with the studios and to support our struggle through their actions, in communications, on social media and by publicly supporting our campaign. Maybe in the future we will say something about cinema or streaming platforms and their subscriptions. But at the moment we are trying to end the productions of the companies and stop promoting their projects, on any platform, in the theater, in the cinema, on streaming platforms or on TV. That’s the strategy. I think the public will understand why we are fighting because it’s a fair fight. And our members are ready to speak out and communicate exactly what they are fighting for.
Q So you prefer a punch, the shorter the better.
R Naturally. This strike must end tomorrow, but only with a fair agreement. And unfortunately I don’t think we will have it tomorrow. And that’s why we keep going, day after day, until the companies sign a fair agreement with our members. That’s what they have to do.
All the culture that goes with it awaits you here.
subscribe to
babelia
The literary novelties analyzed by the best critics in our weekly bulletin
GET IT