CNN –
George Clooney, Tyler Perry and other high-profile actors have made a major proposal to help resolve the months-long actors’ strike.
After a Zoom meeting with SAG-AFTRA union leadership on Tuesday, Clooney and more than a dozen other prominent and high-earning members proposed changes, including removing a $1 million cap on membership dues, to address a loophole in contract negotiations with large studios to close. A source with knowledge of the proposal told CNN.
The changes would result in top earners paying significantly more membership fees each year, which could strengthen the union’s funding of health benefits.
The news was first reported by Deadline.
Emma Stone, Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson and Clooney and Perry were among prominent guild members who met with union leaders Fran Drescher and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
CNN has reached out to SAG-AFTRA for comment.
Clooney told Deadline that they want to help end the strike.
“A lot of top earners want to be part of the solution,” Clooney told the outlet. “We have offered to lift the dues cap, which would bring the union over $50 million annually. Well over $150 million over the next three years. We think it’s fair that we pay more into the union. We also propose a bottom-up residuals structure – this means that the top part of the call sheet is the last to collect the residuals rather than the first. These negotiations will continue, but we wanted to show that we are all in this together and find ways to close the gap in actor pay.”
Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, later commented on the proposal in a video shared on Instagram.
“I would like to thank some of the members who have great influence in this business for the tremendous amount of money they have donated to our foundation,” Drescher said. “I would also like to thank George Clooney for organizing the proposal [to] Lower the contribution caps so that the highest earners can contribute more.”
Drescher called the offer “extremely generous,” but explained that it was not legally possible.
“We are a state-regulated union and the only contributions that can flow into our pension and health funds must come from the employer. “That’s why what we’re fighting for in terms of services must remain in this contract,” said Drescher.
The proposal comes about a week after the studios halted talks with the union.
Contract negotiations collapsed on October 11, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) suspended negotiations because they were “no longer progressing in a productive direction.”
The studios and SAG-AFTRA are negotiating, among other things, revenue sharing and guidelines around the use of artificial intelligence.
The strike has been going on since July 14th.
“We at the union and with the bargaining committee are still waiting for the CEOs to return to the table so we can continue our discussions,” Drescher said in her post Thursday. “If you say no or leave the table, you’re not really in a negotiation.”