Detail work keeps SAG deal on hold
Language of contract, union approval slow negotiations
|
Sources said the talks, which had been expected to conclude Monday, had inched forward at the slow pace due largely to two factors -- the unions' cumbersome approval process and the insistence by SAG and its chief negotiator Brian Walton that every aspect of the agreement be written up in precise contract language.
Although the talks remained under a news blackout, sources also said the elusiveness of a final deal did not reflect disagreement on core issues; they continued to express optimism that an agreement is imminent.
Negotiators reached the basic outline of a three-year deal on key issues during the weekend, including a 3.5% gain in minimums, an increase in guest star fees, hikes in residuals for basic cable, foreign TV and Fox Network and the first pension and health contributions.
The news blackout remained intact, with no definitive word emerging as to when the final deal would be sealed. Talks restarted at 10 a.m. Monday.
Contract remains in effect
The actors' existing contract expired at midnight Saturday. Officials with the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists have said the terms of the expired pact remain in effect as long as negotiations continue.
The collapse of negotiations is viewed as highly unlikely. SAG and AFTRA have yet to take a strike authorization vote, and results of such a move would be iffy due to a combination of factors -- the worsening economy, fatigue from last year's six-month strike against advertisers and the lack of a contract campaign or other strike preparation this year.
The talks at the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers headquarters in Encino have drawn several dozen journalists, although far fewer than the numbers that attended the final days of negotiations between the AMPTP and the Writers Guild of America two months ago. Since then, worries about an actors' strike have cooled, so the announcement of a SAG/AFTRA deal is expected to be somewhat anticlimactic.
The AMPTP originally asked SAG and AFTRA to begin negotiations last fall, but the actors insisted on waiting until the WGA deal was reached. The first six weeks of talks unfolded languidly, with the actors taking multiple breaks before accelerating on June 22, eight days prior to contract expiration.
