Local SAG-AFTRA members gather Saturday in Albuquerque park

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Nearly two months ago, the SAG-AFTRA National Board voted to strike after failed attempts to negotiate with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.  

On Saturday morning, local SAG-AFTRA members gathered at Tiguex Park in support of the strike. 

“We’re just not getting fair wages, like livable wages, we are really asking for the minimum here we aren’t asking for the moon,” said Gabriella Surodjawan, a Stranger Things actor.

“We’re trying to get fair wages and fair pay for SAG members and writers. We are trying to resolve the strike pretty soon to get back to filming and stuff. Right now, the main goal is fair wages,” said Shylo Molina, a Nickelodeon actor.  

Members are asking for streaming residuals, protections that would prevent AI from being used on projects without consent and a living wage that reflects inflation.

“For SAG-AFTRA healthcare you have to make just under $27,000 a year and out of the 160,000 members we have in SAG, 86% of us don’t qualify for that. The ones who do might not qualify today, tomorrow, next year even if you’ve seen them on your favorite TV show or movie and that’s just not acceptable,” said Surodjawan. 

Saturday’s event was filled with music and speeches from SAG-AFTRA’s national president, Sen. Martin Heinrich, and other labor organizers. 

“We will organize for justice, we will raise our voice in song,” said Dale O’Malley, an IATSE speaker. “IATSE stands with you, we are not in a strike, but we stand in solidarity with you. As you know we have been affected heavily by the strike, but we stand with labor. We stand with the labor unions, what you are doing is so important I want you to know.”