The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG AFTRA) President has released a statement to media concerning wrestlers needing protection from employers.
According to their statement, the organization plans on engaging wrestlers and working to secure the protection they deserve. SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris told Jon Alba:
“Wrestling is as much about media as it is sports, and we are going to directly engage with members of this profession to help find ways for them to protect themselves.”
“As more people reinvest in unions, and as more working people are harassed by employers who don’t want to protect them, SAG-AFTRA is committed to doing what we can to help professional wrestlers secure the protections they deserve.”
Carteris and the official SG-AFTRA account recently responded to Tweets by Zelina Vega following her release:
Earlier this year, WWE announced a new policy of preventing its independent contractors from working with sites such as Twitch or Cameo. Aside from the affected pro wrestlers and industry pundits, the policy got some mainstream attention.
2020 Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang, have voiced concerns that WWE should not be able to hold independent contractors to such a policy. Yang responded to SAG-AFTRA’s outreach to Zelina Vega and WWE wrestlers seeking fair rights. He tweeted on Monday, “Pro wrestlers joining SAG-AFTRA makes a lot of sense to me. They star in some of the highest-rated shows on TV each week.”
For more on Andrew Yang’s stance on WWE classifying wrestlers as independent contractors, check out”
