SAG strike history: How many times has an actors strike happened?

July 14, 2023 marks the day the actors union, aka the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), has gone on strike in over 30 years. The group and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) could not come to an agreement since contracts expired on June 30. This is only the beginning of the actors strike, but this isn’t the first time the union has taken this action.

During the strike, some of the rules actors in film and television who are part of the union have to follow are not doing press interviews, promoting their past and current work, or sharing anything about their projects on social media. With the writers strike also still going, more than 70 days now, this is the first time in 60 years where both groups have been on strike at the same time.

SAG strike history: How many times has an actors strike happened?

As of 2023 and including this most recent strike, that means an actors strike has happened a total of eight times in SAG strike history over the years. It’s important to note that SAG and AFTRA used to be two different unions. They didn’t combine and become one until March 2012.

SAG was created in 1933 and AFTRA was founded in 1937. So if you want to get technical, SAG went on strike five times when it was its own union, while AFTRA took this action twice on its own. Together as one labor union, this is the first time they strike as SAG-AFTRA.  We provided a list of all the events below:

• 1936 – Hollywood workers strike due to the use of US Army and Navy in motion pictures
• 1952 – SAG strike for two and a half months
• 1960 – SAG strike led by union president Ronald Reagan (before he was U.S. president) for six weeks
• 1967 – AFTRA strike for 13 days
• 1978 – SAG and AFTRA commercials strike for seven weeks
• 1980 – SAG strike for around three months
• 1986 – SAG strike for 14 hours
• 2023 – SAG-AFTRA strike starting July 14, 2023-present

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for updates on the actors strike.