SAG deal unlikely before June 30

Guild hopes to keep AFTRA from ratifying

By DAVE MCNARY

With the SAG-AFTRA bloodbath in full fury, don't expect a deal between the Screen Actors Guild and the majors any time soon.

SAG president Alan Rosenberg told Daily Variety that progress at the negotiating table has been elusive at best in recent sessions, and he admitted it's unlikely that a deal will emerge by the June 30 expiration.

"Our progress has really slowed down ever since AFTRA made its deal," he said Wednesday, following the 27th bargaining session with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. Talks will resume this morning.

Rosenberg made his remarks shortly before an evening town hall meeting for members at the Harmony Gold Theater in Los Angeles. The event drew nearly 400 and evoked enthusiastic support for SAG's stance against the AFTRA ratification, according to one eyewitness.

Rosenberg admitted that asking SAG members for a strike authorization remains an option but said that no definite decision would be made by guild leaders until next week. SAG can't strike without at least 75% of its members approving via an authorization vote.

"We have not decided to go ahead on a strike authorization, but if we do, we'll have to fairly soon," he added, noting that the voting process would take several weeks to complete. "And we can certainly work past the expiration date while we're still negotiating."

SAG's hoping its campaign to defeat the AFTRA ratification --results will be announced July 7 -- will lead to AFTRA returning to the table and improving its deal so that both unions will achieve pacts with similar terms.

Rosenberg and SAG national exec director Doug Allen have blamed SAG's lack of progress toward a deal on what they see as the deficiencies of the AFTRA deal. SAG's key gripes include new-media jurisdiction, product placement, force majeure and DVD residuals.

Rosenberg and Allen received a warm response at Monday's rally at SAG headquarters to urge a no vote by the 44,000 guild members who also belong to AFTRA.

"Since then, the response from members has been very positive," he added. "As an AFTRA member, it's my contract, so we have to get AFTRA to make a better deal. Otherwise, where are the employers going to go?"

Rosenberg's characterization of the AFTRA deal is wildly at odds with that union's take on the pact, reached May 28, and what AFTRA's describing as the "overwhelmingly positive" response from its members.

In addition to blasting SAG for interference in the ratification, AFTRA's also touted the pact's breakthroughs, such as more than 10% improvement for working actor compensation over the course of the contract; gains in overtime and schedule breaks; a 10% increase in the major role minimum; coverage for new-media programs with a payment structure similar to that in the DGA and WGA deals; preservation of performers consent for online clip use; and access to employers' transaction data, including contract information and license agreements.

The majors have made it clear that SAG won't get a significantly better deal than AFTRA. But Rosenberg and Allen told members in a letter this week, "We have not yet reached the point where either SAG or AFTRA has a deal that meets your needs as professional actors. This is a righteous fight, and we believe that with your support, we will prevail."

AFTRA negotiating committee chairman Matt Kimbrough has accused SAG of dragging its feet at the negotiating table in order to prep for the anti-AFTRA campaign. Rosenberg said that's not the case, adding, "We've been working hard every day."