Hollywood's actors' union and major studios agreed on Friday to keep negotiating through mid-July, staving off the immediate threat of a second labour strike in the entertainment business this summer.
The Sag-Aftra union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said they would extend their current contract, which had been set to expire at midnight, through July 12.
The agreement gives the two sides more time to work out a deal and prevent a work stoppage that would have added to ongoing labour strife in Hollywood. Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) walked off the job on May 2, forcing many film and TV productions to shut down.
A-list stars including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, in a letter to union leadership this week, said they were ready to walk off the job if negotiators failed to reach a "transformative deal" on higher base pay and safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence.
The letter came days after union negotiators issued a video saying their talks had been "extremely productive", a possible sign that a deal was within reach.
In a message to members on Friday, Sag-Aftra's negotiators said they had unanimously agreed to the contract extension "to exhaust every opportunity to achieve the righteous contract we all demand and deserve".
"No one should mistake this extension for weakness," they said.
Sag-Aftra voted in early June to give its leaders the authority to call a work stoppage if talks were to break down.
Negotiations were taking place during a difficult time for Hollywood studios. Conglomerates are under pressure from Wall Street to make their streaming services profitable after pumping billions of dollars into programming to attract subscribers.
The rise of streaming has eroded television advertisement revenue as traditional TV audiences shrink.
The walkout by 11,500 writers has shut down a wide swath of TV production and delayed the filming of movies including Marvel's Thunderbolts and Blade. Any ongoing filming would have to halt if actors also strike.
Leaders of Sag-Aftra, which represents 160,000 actors, and the WGA say the entertainment industry has changed dramatically with the rise of streaming television and the emergence of technology such as generative AI, which they fear could be used to write scripts or create digital actors.
The AMPTP, which negotiates on behalf of the studios, has declined to comment about its talks with Sag-Aftra. The two sides have agreed to keep negotiating without discussing the talks with the media, according to a joint statement on Friday.
With the writers, the AMPTP said it had offered "generous" pay increases but could not agree to all of the writers' demands. The studios and the WGA have not held talks since the writers' strike began on May 2.
The WGA walkout is hitting caterers, prop suppliers and other small businesses that generate a large portion of their income from Hollywood productions. The last writers' strike in 2007 and 2008 cost the California economy an estimated $2.1 billion.
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THE BIO
Ambition: To create awareness among young about people with disabilities and make the world a more inclusive place
Job Title: Human resources administrator, Expo 2020 Dubai
First jobs: Co-ordinator with Magrudy Enterprises; HR coordinator at Jumeirah Group
Entrepreneur: Started his own graphic design business
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Family: Six sisters
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Results
5pm: Reem Island – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Farasah, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
