Current:Home > MyGeorge Clooney, other A-listers offer over $150 million in higher union dues to end actors strike -VitalWealth Strategies
George Clooney, other A-listers offer over $150 million in higher union dues to end actors strike
View
Date:2025-04-18 05:54:30
George Clooney and other stars who are among the top earners in Hollywood have made a groundbreaking proposal to end the actors strike, which has dragged on for nearly 100 days.
Clooney along with Ben Affleck, Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson and Tyler Perry met with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union to suggest eliminating a $1 million cap on union membership dues so that the highest-earners in the business can contribute more, Deadline first reported.
"A lot of the top earners want to be part of the solution," Clooney, a two-time Oscar winner, told Deadline. "We've offered to remove the cap on dues, which would bring over $50 million to the union annually. Well over $150 million over the next three years. We think it's fair for us to pay more into the union."
- SAG-AFTRA asks striking actors to avoid certain popular characters as Halloween costumes
- Talks aimed at ending actors strike break down amid acrimony
- Late-night talk shows coming back after going dark for 5 months due of writers strike
The funds would go toward providing health benefits for members. The stars also proposed reformulating how actors earn streaming residuals.
The offer would prioritize paying the lowest-earners first, Clooney said, according to the Deadline report.
Nice offer, but it wouldn't change anything
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher responded to the unprecedented offer on Instagram, thanking Clooney and the other A-listers for the proposal.
She called the offer "generous" but warned that it "does not impact the contract that we're striking over whatsoever."
"We are a federally regulated labor union and the only contributions that can go into our pension and health plans must be from the employer," Drescher said. "So what we are fighting for in terms of benefits has to remain in this contract."
The union is still waiting for the "CEOs to return to the table so we can continue our talks."
She called out studio heads for avoiding addressing what she called "flaws" in the current residual compensation model.
"Sometimes in life when you introduce an unprecedented business model like they did on all of my members with streaming, an unprecedented compensation structure must also go along with it," Drescher said. "It may not be easy, it may not be what they want, but it is an elegant way to solve the problem so we can all go back to work in what would become the new normal."
Union dues subject to federal and state laws
The SAG-AFTRA television and theatrical negotiating committee also responded to the proposal in a letter to members Thursday.
"We're grateful that a few of our most successful members have engaged to offer ideas and support," the letter read.
The concept of the stars raising their own dues "is worthy of consideration, but it is in no way related to and would have no bearing on this present contract or even as a subject of collective bargaining," it continued. "It is, in fact, prohibited by Federal labor law. For example, our Pension and Health plans are funded exclusively from employer contributions. It also doesn't speak to the scale of the overall package."
veryGood! (82913)
Related
- Oklahoma parole board recommends governor spare the life of man on death row
- US has enough funds for now to continue training Ukrainian pilots on F-16, National Guard chief says
- Sheriff’s deputies corral wayward kangaroo near pool at Florida apartment complex
- We Can't Keep Our Lips Sealed Over Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's Rare Outing With Sister Elizabeth Olsen
- Bet365 ordered to refund $519K to customers who it paid less than they were entitled on sports bets
- The Battle Over Abortion Rights In The 2024 Election
- Jesuits in US bolster outreach initiative aimed at encouraging LGBTQ+ Catholics
- Climate scientist Michael Mann wins defamation case against conservative writers
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- The Little-Known Story of How World War II Led to the Inception of New York Fashion Week
Ranking
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- California's big cities are usually dry. Floods make a homelessness crisis even worse.
- New Hampshire House rejects broad expansion of school choice program but OK’s income cap increase
- Rihanna's New Super Bowl-Inspired Wax Figure Is Exactly What You Came For
- Kansas City Chiefs CEO's Daughter Ava Hunt Hospitalized After Falling Down a Mountain
- 5 Marines aboard helicopter that crashed outside San Diego confirmed dead
- Thank goodness 'Abbott Elementary' is back
- Jason Isbell files for divorce from Amanda Shires after nearly 11 years of marriage: Reports
Recommendation
What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
Haley's loss to none of these candidates in Nevada primary was coordinated effort
US has enough funds for now to continue training Ukrainian pilots on F-16, National Guard chief says
Spencer Dinwiddie leads top NBA potential buyout candidates
Louisiana high court temporarily removes Judge Eboni Johnson Rose from Baton Rouge bench amid probe
New Hampshire House rejects broad expansion of school choice program but OK’s income cap increase
Drew Brees raves about Brock Purdy's underdog story and playmaking ability
Family, U.S. seek information from Israel on detained Palestinian-American Samaher Esmail for alleged incitement