The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) has announced its support to the Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) video game workers as they plan to launch a strike against major video game companies at Los Angeles, California in USA on 26 July at 12:01 am.
With this strike, SAG-AFTRA has demanded the need for fair and equitable treatment of video game workers regarding the implementation of AI in their workplaces.
IATSE has asserted that all workers in video games deserve the rights and protections of a union, including strong AI contracts which prevent workers from being displaced or have their jobs otherwise outsourced via the implementation of AI, a key win in IATSE’s recent basic and area standards negotiations, as well as SAG-AFTRA’s film and TV contract with the studios last year.
IATSE international president Matthew D. Loeb stated, “We are proud to continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with our SAG-AFTRA sisters, brothers, and kin. Their fight against the misuse of AI in the video game industry is a shared fight all entertainment workers’ unions are taking head-on. Just as we secured robust AI protections in our contracts, we support SAG-AFTRA’s demand for fair treatment and comprehensive AI safeguards. Standing together is the only way we can ensure technological development does not come at the expense of workers’ rights and livelihoods.”
IATSE has called for members of the entertainment labour community and other video game workers to join the movement on the Gameworkers.org official website.
A workers union based in the United States and Canada, IATSE represents professionals in the entertainment industry. The union’s members include workers in forms of entertainment such as live theatre, motion picture production, television production, television broadcasting, trade shows, exhibitions and concerts as well as equipment and construction shops supporting the entertainment industry. The organisation also supports all behind-the-scenes workers in areas such as motion picture animation and theatre ushering.
SAG-AFTRA is an American labour union founded in 2012 and is a merger of two organisations namely SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) which represents media professionals worldwide. The organisation is a member of AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations) and FIA (International Federation of Actors).