LISTEN: Maya Gilbert Dunbar could become the first Black woman to lead the union representing film and television actors. GPB's Amanda Andrews explains.
An Atlanta actress and writer is launching a campaign to become the first Black woman to be president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the union representing film and television actors. Maya Gilbert-Dunbar has been a member of SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America for over 15 years.
Writers for the entertainment industry are the latest group to demand better working conditions. Union writers with the WGA began a strike May 2 and SAG-AFTRA members could strike next if an agreement isn’t reached by June 30.
Among the top priorities for union members are greater pay, more generous benefits, and limits on the use of artificial intelligence. Gilbert-Dunbar said a strike is the only way to get what they want.
“These corporations only care about the bottom line and their bottom dollar,” she said. ”The only way we're going to make them feel it is if we shut the entire industry down — hopefully very shortly — and get our demands met and get everybody back to work.”
If SAG-AFTRA members were to go on strike, it would be the first since the SAG and AFTRA unions merged in 2012.
SAG-AFTRA has about 160,000 members. Gilbert-Dunbar said that as union president, she would address the disconnect between current union leaders' actions and members' needs.
“I think that there's an attempt to continue to keep membership inactive, so that small group can control the entire direction of the union,” she said. “And that's why I want to step up and I’m getting involved now.”
Gilbert-Dunbar has until July to get enough votes to qualify for the nationwide vote in October. If elected, she would take the seat from current president Fran Drescher.
