In Depth
Actors Inch Toward Strike
Talks between the Screen Actors Guild and media companies broke off Saturday, moving the industry closer to a strike that could cripple television production for the second time in a year.
Two days of federal mediation ended Saturday, and the WGA put out a statement saying the media companies, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, continue to insist on terms the guild can't accept.
"Now it's time for SAG members to stand united and empower the national negotiating committee to bargain with the strength of a possible work stoppage behind them," the WGA said in a statement.
No timeline has been set for the mailing or return of strike authorization ballots, the guild said. It would take a 75% vote in favor of a strike to give the guild the power to order a stoppage.
The media companies and SAG have been at an impasse since June 30, when the actors' contract ran out. The crux of the issue is the same subject that prompted the Writers Guild of America to strike last year: new-media royalties. The WGA strike, which ended in February, roiled the TV industry by disrupting production and marring the awards show season.
The WGA recently accused the AMPTP of reneging on its promises to pay writers a cut of new-media royalties, a claim of bad faith that SAG pointed out in its Saturday statement.
The producers in a statement turned the tables on SAG, implying the union is out of touch with its members and the current economic crisis.
"SAG is the only major Hollywood guild that has failed to negotiate a labor deal in 2008," the AMPTP said in a statement. "Now, SAG is bizarrely asking its members to bail out the failed negotiating strategy with a strike vote—at a time of historic economic crisis. The tone-deafness of SAG is stunning."
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Comments 2
local 44
i will be crossing the picket lines with my own sign saying that i do not support your strike.
Phil K
I agree SAG is being unrealistic in talking strike under these dire circumstances. They should drop all that strike talk and get back to the bargaining table, and so should AMPTP.
At the same time, AMPTP is being dishonest in the way they have treated the Writer's Guild residuals in the wake of their new contract. They should immediately pay WGA members what they actually owe them, and also increase their offer to SAG.
No one can afford a strike in this economy, unless they want all movie and TV production to permanently move to Canada. We can all watch movies and TV shows made in Austaralia, New Zealnd, Canada, and even Bollywood, since they all speak English, and watch reruns of classic old shows and movies!
They should be forced to arbitrate and mandatory arbitration should be written into any future contract.