SAG asserted that the congloms were not moving off any of their positions to match the guild's concessions. The AMPTP accused SAG of stalling in order to fight ratification of union rival AFTRA's primetime deal.

Voting on AFTRA's deal will be completed July 8.

It's expected that the majors will make SAG a last, best and final offer as early as next week (Daily Variety, June 20). That could change if SAG backs away from an array of demands that include an increase in DVD residuals and sweeter terms for new-media residuals than those achieved earlier this year by the DGA, WGA and AFTRA.

Although SAG has yet to ask its members for strike authorization, production is expected to largely cease within the next 10 days. SAG leaders have said they expect to negotiate beyond the June 30 contract expiration.

AFTRA reached its primetime deal on May 28, but SAG has decided that AFTRA's gains are not enough. In an effort to persuade its 44,000 members who also hold AFTRA cards, SAG has campaigned against ratification for the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, congloms suspect that SAG won't negotiate seriously until AFTRA results have been announced. AFTRA split from joint negotiations with SAG in March in a jurisdictional spat over soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful."

SAG has accused AFTRA of selling out members and shilling for companies. The most recent blast belittled gains in the AFTRA deal, saying they amount to less than $5 million over three years and noting that the pact covers less than a dozen shows.

"Screen Actors Guild wants real money in real actors' pockets," it said in an email to members Thursday.

AFTRA shows covered by the deal include "Rules of Engagement," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Flight of the Conchords," "Dante's Cove," "'Til Death" and "Reaper," the new CBS programs "Project Gary" and "Harper's Island" and the ABC comedy pilot "Roman's Empire." The current AFTRA contract also expires June 30.

In an email sent to AFTRA members Friday, national exec director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth issued a spirited defense of the AFTRA deal while ripping SAG on a number of fronts.

Hedgpeth described SAG's anti-ratification efforts as "a disgrace to any observer who believes in the integrity and importance of the labor movement and your rights as union members. The myth has been spread that if you turn down your contract, it does not mean a strike... The notion that one can reject a hard-fought contract, which exceeds industry 'pattern,' without backing it up with the courage of your convictions, is absurd."

SAG's National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Doug Allen explained, "It is not only appropriate but necessary that we educate our members about how this contract affects them. It would be irresponsible if we did not. The actors involved are our members, working for the same employers, in shows on the same networks."