If actors go on strike they would join Hollywood’s writers, who are entering their sixth week of a walkout.
Members of SAG-AFTRA have voted to strike if they can’t reach a deal with studios over a new contract by June 30, underscoring widening labor tensions across Hollywood.
The vote was approved by a 98% margin, the union said Monday night.
The endorsement gives the union more leverage in negotiations with studios that begin Wednesday on behalf of its 160,000 performers and broadcasters.
“This strike authorization means we enter our negotiations from a position of strength, so that we can deliver the deal our members want and deserve,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, said in a statement.
“We are approaching these negotiations with the goal of achieving a new agreement that is beneficial to SAG-AFTRA members and the industry overall,” the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in a statement.
