As the video game performers' strike in the US enters its fourth month, the leadership of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has shrouded the details of the first three days of bargaining with the video game conglomerates in almost a year. The union's press release provided minimal information, leaving workers in the dark about the progress of the negotiations and the critical issues at stake.

Uncovering the Secrets: A Struggle for Transparency and Worker Empowerment

Piecemeal Deals and Undemocratic Practices

While the union officials claim to have resolved every issue to their satisfaction except for the use of artificial intelligence (AI), the reality on the ground paints a different picture. The union has been signing a growing number of interim interactive media agreements (IIMA) or tiered-budget independent interactive agreements, allowing more than 120 projects to continue during the strike. These deals are being agreed to and imposed in an entirely undemocratic manner, with workers not given the opportunity to vote on them. Instead, they are effectively decrees from the union tops that dictate the maximum terms of any deal with the "employer unit."This unprecedented approach to settling a strike, piecemeal and by stealth, effectively establishes a ceiling on which the rank-and-file voice performers have had absolutely no say. The union is essentially acting as an arm of management, serving the interests of the government and the video game conglomerates rather than the workers they are supposed to represent.

The Betrayal of Workers' Interests

The SAG-AFTRA approach to the video game performers' strike is reminiscent of the strategies employed by other unions, such as the United Automobile Workers (UAW) and the rail union bureaucrats. In both cases, the union leadership has prioritized making separate deals and passing them off as "historic" achievements, while in reality, these agreements have resulted in sellout contracts, mass layoffs, and plant closures.The video game industry itself has seen the loss of over 23,000 jobs in the last year, according to a conservative estimate. Yet, the union leadership continues to insist that workers should "play fair" and accept the extermination of their jobs as a form of "informed consent." This is the only thing they are demanding from the companies, as evidenced by the IIMAs that have been signed and the template they provide on their website.

The Enablers of Job Destruction

Objectively speaking, SAG-AFTRA is operating as the facilitator or "enabler" of the introduction of AI into the video game industry, which will result in the mass destruction of jobs. The union bureaucrats have done little to genuinely protect workers or provide serious oversight mechanisms to ensure that games or corporations do not misuse the identities or likenesses of performers.The previous video game contract expired almost two years ago, yet workers were told to continue working. Even after a strike vote was held last year, the union kept workers on the job at what would have been the height of their strength. It was only after the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) brought home a sellout deal for its members that SAG-AFTRA (ensured of the complete isolation of its membership) chose to go out on strike.

The Isolation and Sabotage of the Strike

Even after calling a strike, the union has only picketed one company at a time, once a week, for a few hours. Meanwhile, they have made over 120 secret deals behind the backs of workers, further dividing and isolating those out on strike. Many of these 120 IIMA are with games that are being developed by companies in the employers' group, effectively undermining the strike and the workers' collective bargaining power.The current disaster in film production and jobs shows no signs of letting up, with a 5% drop in Shoot Days in Greater Los Angeles during the third quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. This "surprising" fact is attributed to the "dual" strike by SAG-AFTRA film and television actors and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in the summer of 2024.

The Path Forward: Worker-Led Resistance and Solidarity

Workers must realize that in their struggle for a decent standard of living, they face enemies on two sides – the employers, who ruthlessly want to squeeze every ounce of labor out of workers without giving up a dime, and the union bureaucrats, who conspire behind the backs of workers to sabotage every struggle.The only way out of the impasse is for performers to take the reins of the struggle into their own hands through the creation of democratically controlled rank-and-file committees independent of the union bureaucrats and the capitalist political parties they defend. However, video game performers alone will not be able to progress in isolation. They will need to expand their struggle by uniting with other workers in the entertainment industry, as well as healthcare workers, logistics workers, educators, autoworkers, and others who face the same conditions and, in fact, many of the same bosses as themselves. This is the only way forward in the fight for a better future.