Uncertainty as SAG negotiations end

Low expectations hovered over talks

By DAVE MCNARY

Rosenberg

Allen

With Hollywood's hopes for labor peace hitting the skids for now, the Screen Actors Guild and the majors will pull the plug today on three weeks of largely unproductive talks -- with no sign of compromise by either side.

After today's talks conclude, no new SAG negotiations are planned even though the guild's contract expires June 30. And SAG leaders may even seek a strike authorization vote soon.

The 14th day of negotiations between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers recessed Thursday evening with both sides refusing to comment other than saying they'd resume talks today. The AMPTP will start bargaining Monday with AFTRA on a new primetime deal that will likely have the effect of isolating SAG.

Expectations are high that AFTRA will make a deal as early as late next week, covering a handful of shows and opening the door for it to begin taking away coverage from SAG in areas of shared jurisdiction. AFTRA split off from SAG in March in the culmination of an ugly dispute over actors on "The Bold and the Beautiful" attempting to decertify from AFTRA.

Despite that scenario, SAG hasn't budged significantly from its initial positions. With frustration mounting over the lack of progress, the AMPTP blasted the guild Wednesday over its demands for doubling of DVD rates, hikes in basic pay rates and terms in new media that are better than what the DGA and WGA negotiated.

SAG countered by disputing the AMPTP's assertions, accusing the majors of not negotiating in good faith and insisting it would not negotiate in the press.

Despite the saber-rattling, people close to the negotiations have insisted the talks have remained cordial and covered a significant amount of ground. But it's clear that SAG wants to pressure the majors with a strike threat, leading to the growing possibility that SAG's leaders will ask for a strike authorization vote from its 120,000 members.

Such a step is risky in that the measure must receive at least 75% support to be valid. The WGA strike authorization received 90% backing last October, but that came after months of hostility between the WGA and the AMPTP.

SAG national exec director Doug Allen and president Alan Rosenberg have been laying the groundwork for such a step by telling members for the past year that SAG won't follow the pattern set by the DGA and WGA. They've been adamant that the 22-year-old homevid formula needs to be sweetened, even though the WGA took that demand off the table, and that the DGA and WGA new-media terms aren't good enough given the migration of the TV business to the Internet.

But it's unclear whether actors would have the appetite for a second walkout after enduring the 100-day writers strike. Allen and Rosenberg have been under pressure from high-profile members since the WGA strike ended, with George Clooney, Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep asking that SAG get to the table quickly; in addition, more than 1,500 members -- including Amy Brenneman and Sally Field -- petitioned unsuccessfully for SAG to limit voting on the contract to those meeting a work requirement.

AFTRA has already incorporated parts of the WGA and DGA new-media deals into its network code pact, which covers shows other than primetime dramas and sitcoms. That agreement, reached in March, received backing from 93% of members voting.

Both the AMPTP and DGA issued congratulations Thursday to AFTRA on the ratification of the three-year deal.

"It is great news that at such a challenging time in our industry, you were able to improve and protect so many important provisions regarding wage increases, health and retirement contributions and new-media residuals for AFTRA members," DGA president Michael Apted said in a message to AFTRA president Roberta Reardon.

"The AFTRA Network Code contract is the third major agreement we have successfully concluded this year and the latest to incorporate the groundbreaking new-media framework that will benefit both union members and producers," the AMPTP said.

AFTRA's leaders are far more moderate than SAG's. The union has 70,000 members, including 44,000 who also belong to SAG.