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Labor Talks in Hollywood Begin Again
16-May-2008
Written by: Marshall Burns
Talks with SAG and AFTRA could possibly stave off another strike from writers and producers.
The bargaining table is going to be up for grabs again on May 28 when the Screen Actors Guild and other Hollywood studios plan to resume contract talks that were cancelled more than a week ago. This will give each party about four weeks to reach a new deal before the existing contract expires on June 30, reported Reuters.
Both sides have agreed to extend the sessions in hopes of keeping the peace in the industry that is still trying to come back from the walkout that lasted for more than 100 days, ending in February. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, representing the studios, ended negotiations on May 6 in an attempt to recount the momentum that had been “thrust into reverse” by “unreasonable demands” from the union, said Reuters.
The 100 days that the industry missed was said to have cost the local economy of Hollywood almost $3 billion from the stoppage of many TV shows, as well as a few films that were still in production. SAG has put down the possibility of another strike, even as the television industry is recuperating much of the losses that they suffered.
Sag’s sister union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, is seen as the more likely of the two to reach a labor deal quickly. The 70,000 performers that are part of AFTRA could possibly form a base from which settlement with SAG could be achieved, thinks Reuters, just the way the contract with the directors formed the base for talks that led to the writers pace in February.
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