AFTRA open to SAG talks

Union exec hopes for 'Phase One' agreement

By DAVE MCNARY

AFTRA'S top exec has told SAG that she's still hoping that the performers' unions don't have to get a divorce.

AFTRA national exec director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, in a letter sent Friday to SAG counterpart Doug Allen, said discussions earlier in the week between union officials led her to assert that AFTRA would still be willing to negotiate with SAG rather going it alone.

Hedgpeth had declared on Feb. 3 that AFTRA was planning to start a separate negotiation on primetime TV with the AMPTP in early March -- asserting that SAG had already ended the "Phase One" agreement on joint negotiations that's been in effect since 1981. She had said that SAG's efforts to seek a member referendum to end Phase One were irrelevant since SAG had already abrogated the 27-year-old pact by instituting block voting for its negotiating committee members.

But in her Friday letter, she struck a more conciliatory tone.

"AFTRA is committed to Phase One as it was originally conceived and practiced since 1981," she wrote to Allen. "AFTRA wants to support SAG in its potential return to Phase One."

She also said that it's her understanding that both unions would be ready to launch talks with the AMPTP on the primetime part of the contract by March 31. The contract expires June 30; AFTRA doesn't have coverage in the film part of the contract.

Hedgpeth also said in the letter that SAG would have to agree to continue to operate as it has previously in joint negotiations, with the unions splitting the representation on bargaining committees.

In response, SAG said, ""We communicated with AFTRA today, but have no comment on the substance of our correspondence."

SAG's scheduled an emergency national board meeting for Saturday to deal with its relationship with AFTRA.

Should AFTRA succeed at signing a primetime deal before SAG does, it would diminish SAG's leverage from going on strike after its current contract expires on June 30 -- since producers could simply sign an AFTRA deal if SAG did go on strike.

SAG has also scheduled a referendum asking members to approve ending Phase One, with ballots to be sent out Feb. 22 and returned by March 14.

SAG's beef with AFTRA stems from the latter's refusal to reduce its 50-50 participation on the negotiating committees for film-TV and on commercials -- despite accounting for less than 10% of the earnings. SAG's complained that AFTRA has been offering producers cheaper contracts in basic cable while AFTRA has accused SAG leaders of being radical and inflexible, asserting that its "one size fits all" approach to contracts results in fewer union jobs.

SAG has about 120,000 members while AFTRA has 70,000; about 40,000 thesps are dual cardholders.