SAG-AFTRA Reveals Having "Powerful Conversation" With Zelina Vega, Vega Comments
Former WWE Superstar Zelina Vega had talks with SAG-AFTRA (The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television & Radio Artists) on Wednesday.
The official SAG-AFTRA Twitter account revealed the conversation and described it as powerful.
"Powerful conversation with Thea Trinidad @Zelina_VegaWWE today. We support her and others as they work to protect and empower themselves," they wrote.
Zelina responded and confirmed the conversation, and thanked them for their insight.
"Very powerful indeed, thank you all for the pleasant conversation and insight," she wrote back.
There's been a lot of talk about potential unionization in pro wrestling this year, mainly due to WWE's new edict on the end of unauthorized third party content with sites such as Twitch and Cameo. The idea of a pro wrestling union has been floated around for years, but never seriously considered as many feel it will never happen with a major promotion like WWE.
Vega was released last week from her WWE contract for reasons related to the third party edict. She and others like Paige have tweeted about unionization in recent weeks. Vega posted a tweet that said she supports unionization in wrestling right before her WWE departure was made public last week.
Shortly after Vega's release, SAG-AFTRA and their President Gabrielle Carteris publicly supported her. The main Twitter account agreed with her unionization tweet, and Carteris offered her support, and thanked her.
"Hey @Zelina_VegaWWE Thanks for standing strong for labor solidarity. I support you. Please email me PresidentCarteris@sagaftra.org," Carteris wrote the day after Vega's release.
Carteris then issued a statement to us over the weekend and commented on potential plans moving forward.
"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," the statement said.
SAG-AFTRA is a labor union that represents more than 150,000 actors, TV/radio personalities, recording artists and singers, journalists and others in media.
Stay tuned for updates. You can see the related tweets below:
Powerful conversation with Thea Trinidad @Zelina_VegaWWE today. We support her and others as they work to protect and empower themselves.
— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) November 19, 2020
Very powerful indeed, thank you all for the pleasant conversation and insight. https://t.co/wnvH8mAXMj
— ???????????? ???????? (@Zelina_VegaWWE) November 19, 2020
I support unionization.
— (@Zelina_VegaWWE) November 13, 2020
Hey @Zelina_VegaWWE Thanks for standing strong for labor solidarity. I support you. Please email me PresidentCarteris@sagaftra.org https://t.co/tYEiiFhB9S
— Gabrielle Carteris (@TheGabrielle_C) November 14, 2020
So do we. https://t.co/kgTIrv0jdl
— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) November 14, 2020
I inquired with @sagaftra president @TheGabrielle_C following her tweet recognizing @Zelina_V'gaWWE's call for unionization. This is her statement response, which seems to be one of the first times SAG-AFTRA is publicly offering support for pro wrestlers. #WWE pic.twitter.com/jX4E6To5oo
— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) November 16, 2020