Negotiators for the SAG-AFTRA actors union agreed late Tuesday to name in a federal mediator to attempt to forge a last-minute settlement with Hollywood studios and keep away from a second simultaneous strike within the leisure enterprise. The 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood’s largest union, have approved a strike if a brand new labor deal can’t be reached earlier than midnight on Wednesday. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since early May.

In a press release late on Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA mentioned it was sticking with the Wednesday deadline and would “exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal.” “However we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement,” the assertion mentioned.

SAG-AFTRA is demanding increased compensation within the streaming TV period plus safeguards round the usage of synthetic intelligence (AI). A-list stars together with Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep have mentioned they’re able to stroll off the job if union leaders can’t attain a “transformative deal.” On Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA mentioned the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group that negotiates on behalf of studios, “has abused our trust and damaged the respect we have for them in this process.”

The union mentioned studio sources had leaked the request for a mediator to the press earlier than SAG-AFTRA negotiators have been knowledgeable. “We will not be manipulated by this cynical ploy to engineer an extension when the companies have had more than enough time to make a fair deal,” the union mentioned.

A spokesman for the AMPTP, which represents Walt Disney Co , Netflix Inc and different main studios, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Negotiations have been happening at a tough time for media firms which can be underneath strain from Wall Street to make their streaming companies worthwhile.

Disney, Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal and Paramount Global every misplaced lots of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} from streaming in the latest quarter. The rise of streaming has additionally eroded tv advert income as conventional TV audiences shrink.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)