SAG Strike News

Hollywood Studios Agree to Meet With Mediator
Wall Street Journal
OCTOBER 23, 2008

Four months after the Screen Actors Guild's contract expired, the Hollywood studios have agreed to meet with a federal mediator next Thursday in an attempt to advance stalled talks.

The meeting follows a recent request from the union to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service that an outsider intervene in the stalled negotiations. The film and television producers are set to meet one-on-one with federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez, who was also involved in talks between the studios and the Writers Guild of America during the days preceding a strike by Hollywood writers last fall.

SAG will not attend that meeting, but in a statement Thursday, SAG National Executive Director Doug Allen said that the guild looks "forward to meeting with the federal mediator" and the studios "as soon as possible." The two sides haven't met formally face-to-face since mid-July.

The studios have said that they have no intention of changing the proposal it is offering SAG -- which is similar to one already accepted by several other Hollywood unions, including SAG's sister union the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. But their willingness to meet with the mediator suggests that they may be amenable to bargaining on some terms.

People familiar with both sides of the negotiations say that a new round of talks may not accomplish anything. The 120,000-actor union is deeply fractured, and the request for a mediator appears to be part of a compromise among its fractious ranks. SAG also announced last Sunday that it would ask its members for authorization to declare a strike if the mediation effort fails.

While nearly 97% of SAG's board members attending last weekend's meeting voted to seek strike authorization, it remains unclear that a strike would materialize. The actors have long debated the efficacy of such a strike, especially after the brutal 100-day writers' strike last winter, which some rank-and-file workers are still recovering from.

If mediation fails and any such strike-authorization ballot is mailed out, members would have three weeks to vote.

Meanwhile, the film and television studios are continuing to put projects in production, acting as though a strike is unlikely.

LOS ANGELES—A vote by Screen Actors Guild leaders on Sunday has simultaneously ratcheted up negotiations and the possibility of strike.

More than 96 percent of the National Board of Directors called to formally request a federal mediator and, at the same time, voted to ask members if they want to authorize a strike.

The resolution "authorizes a referendum and accompanying educational information be sent to the members requesting their authorization for the National Board to call a strike" if negotiations fail.

If 75 percent of SAG's 120,000 members vote in favor of a labor action, it would then be left to the national negotiating committee to authorize the strike if they deem it necessary.

"We hope mediation will help move this process forward. This action by the board demonstrates our commitment to bargain with the strength of our unified membership behind us," said Screen Actors Guild National President Alan Rosenberg in a statement.

SAG's chief negotiator Doug Allen said the union's number one goal remains securing a good contract without a strike.

Actors in prime-time television and movies have been working under the terms of a contract that expired June 30, in the hopes of avoiding a repeat of the 100-day writers strike that ended in February. That strike cost the Los Angeles area economy an estimated $2.5 billion.

The studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, have said previously that considering the current economic turmoil, it is "unrealistic for SAG negotiators now to expect even better terms during this grim financial climate."

Phone calls seeking comment on Sunday from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were not immediately returned.

The actors guild wants union coverage of all shows made for the Internet, and residual payments for actors on made-for-Internet shows. It also demands protections for actors during work stoppages.

The alliance has stuck by a final offer it made June 30, which it said mirrored deals accepted by directors, a smaller actors union called the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and writers following their strike.

Insider baseball: The SAG elections and the Dreamworks deal ( read more here )

The SAG mid-September elections are done and ( here's the news )
The current collection of SAG Strike News ( is now here )

Other news: Michigan recently offered a rebate of as much as 42% on production spending [hello to the California legislature -- Dems, Repubs ... is anybody home ... we're dying here !!] and 20th Century Fox is shooting a sequel to "Night at the Museum" in Vancouver, Canada, as well as "X-Men Origins" in New Zealand. ( read the sad and some happy news here )

And, one more newsy item: The two actors guilds and the commercial producers extended their contract through next March ... woohoo. ( read the news here )

Notes from the business side of Show Business: Producer Pacts ( read more here )

Sept. 25th, 2008
Two major shakeups:
SAG Election & Dreamworks deal ( read more here )

Sept. 19th, 2008
SAG Election: Dissidents win
a local majority. New National
Board meets October 18th.
Less than 25% on each coast voted. ( read more here )

SAG National Board: No Thanks, AMPTP

Unanimous vote keeps labor dispute going

Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/26/2008 10:02:00 PM

The Screen Actors Guild-Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers standoff looks like it still has plenty of legs after the SAG national board backed its negotiating committee in turning down the AMPTP’s “final offer” over new media.

SAG said a resolution passed 68-0 on Saturday that "It is a core principle of Screen Actors Guild -- That no non-union work shall be authorized to be done under any Screen Actors Guild agreement and; That all work under a Screen Actors Guild contract, regardless of budget level, shall receive fair compensation when reused."

The AMPTP issued statement in response, saying "The continued refusal of SAG's negotiators to accept AMPTP's final offer means that actors will continue to work indefinitely under the expired contract – an old contract that contains none of the $250 million in additional compensation provided by AMPTP's final offer, and an old contract that provides none of the new media rights and residuals that other Hollywood Guild members have now been enjoying for months.”

The most recent contract between the sides expired on June 30, though both sides continue to work under that agreement.

SAG still has yet to call for a strike authorization, which would require 75% support, a figure than many industry insiders say may be tough for the current leadership to reach.

July 10th, 2008
No agreement, no meets set ( read more here )
"He said, she said"

April 18th, 2008
Whither goeth pilot season? ( read more here )
"If [SAG] comes to a resolution in May, come June
everything's going to pick up and it's going to be crazy."

April 16th, 2008
SAG Leadership Chief ( read more here )
A very informative bio on "the leader"

IATSE - AMPTP talks
take a break: SAG & AFTRA
move to center stage ( read more here )

Flash ... from Hollywood:
SAG eats its own young
and restless ... ( read more here )