Gov. Newsom Strike Down Unemployment Benefits for Strikers

Correction: This article was updated to report that Gov. Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 799 into law.

By Daniel Rivera, Reporter 
The Screen Actors Guild has been on strike for the past 9 weeks which has put a strain on actors and the writers from its sibling guild. 

The California Senate has just passed Senate Bill 799, a bill that would extend unemployment insurance to striking workers. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it on Sept. 30. Actors have taken many routes to survive the strike. With foresight and luck were able to save enough to live off those savings, some are on unemployment due to them being a part of the studio prior to the strike and some have had to leave acting altogether in order to make ends meet. 

“People need to have a side hustle, it used to be that you could make a livable wage as an actor, doing a few guest stars and making to pay for insurance,” said Screen Actors Guild Secretary Joely Fisher. Acting careers can be filled with lulls between jobs forcing actors to shift their energy to pursuits outside of their careers. 

“I took on a part-time position and it doesn’t pay much. I want to return to acting,” said actor  Clinton Smith during an interview with Random Lengths News. 

Then there are actors with somewhat more fortunate circumstances.

“I’m very blessed,” said writer Grace Edwards. “I’m one of the few writers who got to work consistently and I knew the strike was coming for over a year now. So I’ve been saving and cutting back on things for the last year.”

Edwards explained she didn’t know how long she’d be able to hold out on just her savings. 

The biggest sticking point in negotiations is transparency in regard to streaming data. Without this transparency, writers and actors have no way to accurately determine how much residuals they are owed. 

Combined with the length of the strike, it has forced some to take on side jobs to survive but it’s forcing others to consider leaving the industry altogether until the labor situation finally cools and an agreement is met. 

“No unemployment. It’s just been savings, no residuals during our first seasons and we don’t have data for how it did,” said. Mayta Goldie, a writer for Paramount explained. “Hopefully we don’t have to leave the businesses. Maybe teach a class, we’re actors, we are already used to having to adjust.”  

Goldie does not know when she’ll get paid, and even when she does she has no way of knowing whether or she was shorted due to the lack of data available to crews or to the public. 

On Sept. 13, the writers and actors guild marched from Netflix to Paramount amidst a rally, Fisher made a speech talked about the importance of SB799  to workers who have struggled to make ends meet. 

“It would just help people make ends meet, put food on the table, pay a bill,” Fisher said following a speech she delivered to fellow strikers. Some actors have been pushed into homelessness and others face eviction. 

“I haven’t made ends meet. I don’t have a place to live technically. I’ve been bouncing around with friends because I can’t afford a lease,” said an actor who asked that she only be identified by the name  Carmen.  Many actors face housing insecurity, like Laura Romanov who even various acting and writing credits face eviction. 

SB799 would impact thousands of workers who are either currently on strike or plan on going on strike in the near future like the portion of AFTA that is tied to the gaming industry.