The SAG-AFTRA response to AEA’s claims of ‘breaching solidarity’: Everything you need to know

SAG-AFTRA and AEA are pitted against each other over Broadway matters during the pandemic, with knock-on effects for the industry. Entertainment law firms San Francisco to LA and beyond have been monitoring the situation carefully, so we have all the information you need to stay in the loop. We’ve looked in detail at the complexities of the matter before, as well as the core of AEA’s argument. Today we take a closer look at SAG-AFTRA’s response, and where the matter currently lies. 

Unsurprisingly, after some pretty accusatory statements of contract poaching and breaching solidarity from AEA’s side, SAG-AFTRA has come back swinging, labeling the claims made as ‘blatantly untrue.’

They note that SAG-AFTRA has traditionally had jurisdiction over broadcast and recorded media, and that (far from the claimed ‘breaches of AEA jurisdiction’) AEA is, in fact, the ones attempting to poach from SAG-AFTRA territory. This ‘uncertainty’ over jurisdiction, they claim, is impacting their ability to offer broader waivers to support AEA members through the unprecedented pandemic landscape.

They reiterate that their offered waiver is intended to help stabilize the industry and create more work at a hard time for all, emphasizing that the intent is to allow AEA to cover recorded/broadcast live theater despite it being squarely within SAG-AFTRA’s usual turf. 

 

They counter AEA’s claims with some of their own, too, stating that:

AEA’s leadership about these waivers have surfaced very real concerns on the part of their leadership over the long-term viability of the live theater business model. In these conversations, it has become clear that, in several specific instances, AEA may have attempted to extend their presence into our jurisdiction and believes that extending into SAG-AFTRA jurisdiction maybe strategically advantageous to AEA in the future.

 

Both unions call on each other to put the needs of members first, co-operate together, be flexible, and find ways to keep hard-hit members earning during an unprecedented global pandemic. As one of the Top Entertainment law firms Los Angeles trusts most, BLAKE & WANG P.A can’t help but wonder when, however, we will see a true attempt to resolve the matter come forth, as at the moment there seems to be little but territorial posturing. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you in the loop.