SCREEN ACTORS GUILD CONTINUES TO NEGOTIATE
Screen Actors Guild Continues to Negotiate
Members Continue to Work Past Contract Expiration
Los Angeles, June 30, 2008 – The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee has bargained with the AMPTP for the last 42 days and remains committed to negotiating a fair deal for actors as soon as possible.
The AMPTP today delivered a last-minute, 43-page offer that upon initial examination appears to be generally consistent with the AFTRA deal, particularly in its provisions relating to new media. The union is reviewing the complex package and will prepare a response to management once that analysis is complete.
The parties are scheduled to meet Wednesday, July 2, at 2:00 p.m.
“This offer does not appear to address some key issues important to actors. For example, the impact of foregoing residuals for all made-for-new-media productions is incalculable and would mean the beginning of the end of residuals,” said Screen Actors Guild National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Doug Allen.
The Screen Actors Guild Codified Basic and Television Agreements covering television programs and motion pictures expire tonight at midnight. Work will continue and all SAG members should report to work and to audition for new work past the expiration date until further notice from the Guild.
Other Screen Actors Guild agreements, including the Commercials Contract, Basic Cable Live Action Agreement, Basic Cable Animation Agreement, Television Animation Agreement, Interactive Media Agreement, Internet Agreement, and Industrial Educational Contract are unaffected by the status of these negotiations, and members should continue to audition and work under them as usual.
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In other words, look out working actor because a strike is on the horizon and you’ll get hit from BOTH sides! When we strike, and yes I chose that word carefully, it will only be the Codified Basic and Television Agreement that we strike on. So for us working schmoes living under the Commercials Contract we should be fine, right!?! NOPE! What will happen is every major name in TV and Film will all the sudden decide voice-over, commercials, and Broadway all sound appealing as a way to make some pocket change during the strike. It will be that much harder to make a living in an environment already prone to suicidal tendencies thanks to the difficulty in acquiring work. That job in real estate isn’t looking so bad! Oh crap, thats right, we’re in a recession and the housing market is a mess. Singing telegram anyone?
Contact:
Pamela Greenwalt, Screen Actors Guild
323-440-2892 Cell
on Jul 2nd, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I\’m up for the singing telegram! Better yet lets start a boy band \"Out of Snyc\".
Well considering V.O. is my bread and butter right now this could draw a bit of a dilemma for me. But I\’m not the wining type so I gotta think of some other ways to make money in this crazy industry. Any real suggestions…? Wouldn’t this strike be worthwhile though? It seems like they were trying to take away our residuals. I don’t mean to be the downer but I’m just inquiring.
on Jul 2nd, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Hey Barrie…thanks for the comments! I totally agree that what we’re fighting for, or what we will be fighting for when we strike is worth striking over. Now, do I believe we’ll win? Do I believe the union could possibly implode and not even be in existence if we strike. Yeah, I kinda do…not to be a doomsdayer, but all the power lies in the hands of a bunch of share holders! The studios are now owned by multinational corporations who think unions are a “distraction!” Seeing SAG go down would be a celebratory moment for the powers that be at the studios and their parent companies.
Here is another interesting tidbit that I read today that puts some spring in my step, but shows that SAG is really just waiting to see how the members of AFTRA voted on their contract. This will foreshadow the outcome of a SAG strike vote.
FROM CONTACTMUSIC.COM:
SAG LEADER CALLS STRIKE TALK “A DISTRACTION”
Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg on Sunday called talk about the possibility of a strike “a distraction” even as the SAG contract with the studios and television networks approached its expiration at midnight tonight (Monday). “We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild,” Rosenberg said in a statement. However, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers indicated that much of the industry had already shut down while negotiations with SAG dragged on. “The AMPTP has made four major guild agreements so far this year, and there is no reason we can’t make a fifth and final one with SAG and get the town back to working at full speed,” the AMPTP statement said. But it is generally believed that no agreement is possible before July 8, when the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is due to announce the outcome of a ratification vote on its deal with the AMPTP. Hollywood SAG leaders have been campaigning among members who also hold union cards in AFTRA to vote down the deal. On the other hand, should AFTRA members overwhelmingly approve it, SAG’s leverage at the bargaining table would likely be weakened.