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Screen Actors Guild Strike Beginning to Look Imminent
22-Nov-2008
Written by: Daniel A. Russ
After initial negotiations with a federal mediator failed, the SAG is poised to strike.
This morning, the Screen Actors Guild said that it would seek authorization from its members to begin a strike, as the last-ditch efforts by a federal mediator between the guild and major studios failed to reach an agreement or end the months-long stalemate.
“Management continues to insist on terms we cannot possibly accept on behalf of our members,” the union said in a statement. “We remain committed to avoiding a strike but now more than ever we cannot allow our employers to experiment with our careers.”
At issue are troubles concerning royalty payments for online and DVD movie sales, which were the same thing that the Writers Guild struck over earlier in the year.
SAG, which represents some 120,000 actors, said it would now begin a “full-scale education campaign” with the hopes of convincing its members to authorize a strike should the studios and the SAG fail to reach an agreement.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who negotiate on behalf of the major Hollywood studios, disclosed that “parties were unable to reach an agreement” and that the mediator had “adjourned the process” after two days of meetings. The SAG's announcement of beginning the first steps to strike came shortly after.
Although the SAG did not appear to take the news as a surprise, it seemed no less disappointed, hoping for a different outcome than when federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez failed to mediate a contract dispute between the Writers Guild and studios.
Previously, the 71-member national board had already authorized a strike in the event that the mediation negotiations failed. The board itself has the final say on whether or not to conduct a walk-out, and should it occur, most major television and film production would cease – similar to what happened during the writers' strike.
Were the referendum to strike pass, it wouldn't immediately go into effect; SAG leaders are expected to time the walk-outs to coincide with the Academy Awards and Golden Globe awards to maximize public impact. It would also be timed later as studios plan to ramp up film production rates for films planned for release in 2010.
Actors previously struck in 2000 in a six-month walkout over a commercials contract.
Actually receiving enough votes to initiate the strike could prove difficult, however, as the referendum would require 75 percent approval from members who vote in order for it to pass. Although typically members permit the board to initiate strikes when it deems it to be necessary, a crumbling economy and strike-fatigue from the 100 day Writers Guild strike could have an unexpected impact on the SAG's ability to strike.
Gonzalez, the federal mediator, cited frustration as a result for calling for a pause on negotiations, saying that neither side was willing to back down from its positions. The SAG insists that it should have jurisdiction over all shows created for the Internet, regardless of budget; the studios said that this would limit their ability to experiment in new media and instead proposed limiting contracts to only shows above certain budget levels or when professional actors are hired. They argued that the SAG should accept the same new-media pay framework already negotiated by five other unions, including the smaller union, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Writers Guild.
Repeatedly touted by the studios was how actors were losing out on contract gains negotiated by other unions, although that argument came under fire this week when the Writers Guild accused the studios of reneging on some of the key terms of its contract negotiated in February – a point that was capitalized on by the SAG in its statement.
The AMPTP has had no immediate response.
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