SAG delays cable deal bargaining

Members advised to continue working

By DAVE MCNARY

The Screen Actors Guild has quietly delayed bargaining on its basic cable pact -- which expired three weeks ago.

SAG has yet to set a date to start negotiations with about 20 cable companies while actors continue to work under terms and conditions of the two-year pact, originally bargained in mid-2006.

The pact, which covers live-action shows produced directly for cable such as "The Closer" and "Monk," reached expiration on Dec. 19 following an extension from its original June 30 expiration.

"We have advised our members to continue auditioning and reporting for work and expect no changes in our administration of the agreement," the Screen Actors Guild said.

The guild said SAG would begin the talks "at a mutually agreeable time." She also said that the agreement with independent basic cable producers has been extended indefinitely.

SAG's basic cable deal in 2006 included a 21% increase in residuals and represented the first change in its cable deal since 1992. Guild members had approved a strike authorization four months before, contending that the companies proposal wasn't sufficient to cover gains in the cable biz.

SAG members have also been working under terms of the feature-primetime pact, which expired June 30 as the AMPTP made its final offer to SAG. The congloms estimate that SAG's lost $43 million in pay increases since then due to its refusal to accept that deal.

SAG leaders have continued campaigning in recent weeks for a strike authorization in feature-primetime despite significant opposition within the guild. The lack of consensus led SAG leaders to schedule an emergency board meeting next week -- which could result in the once-delayed authorization vote being cancelled.

On another contract front, SAG and AFTRA will begin meetings Friday to hammer out their proposal for a new commercials contract. A start date for the talks with the ad industry has not been set; the SAG-AFTRA contract with commercial producers, which has been extended twice, expires March 31.

Talks on the commercial contract will mark a return to solidarity at the contract table for the two thesp unions, which battled each other publicly last year after negotiating separately with Hollywood's majors on the feature-primetime contract. AFTRA members inked a new contract with the studios in July, while SAG has been mired in a months-long impasse.