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Hollywood actors remain in limbo on strike vote
Source: Agencies |
January 14, 2009, Wednesday
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Online Edition
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UNION hard-liners prevailed in a showdown at the Screen Actors Guild yesterday, defeating attempts by moderates to scuttle a planned strike referendum and oust negotiators they blamed for stalled contract talks with Hollywood's major studios.
The outcome of the 30-hour meeting by SAG's sharply divided national board left in doubt, however, when union leaders might go ahead with a vote seeking formal permission from rank-and-file members to call a strike.
Faced with dwindling support for a strike authorization amid a worsening economy, SAG leaders announced last month they would delay the referendum for at least three weeks, until after the Jan. 12-13 board meeting, in hopes of restoring consensus.
In a terse statement issued at the end of the closed-door session, SAG said only that "no substantive actions were taken" and that "no mailing date has been set for the previously approved" strike referendum ballots.
Uncertainty over a strike vote also leaves in doubt whether next month's Oscars might be caught up in a labor confrontation.
SAG's 120,000 members have been without a film and prime-time TV contract since their old labor pact expired on June 30, after studios presented their "final" offer.
That deal essentially mirrors terms accepted by several other Hollywood labor groups, including a smaller actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
SAG and the studios remain firmly at odds over issues that center on how actors should be paid for work distributed over the Internet.
The outcome of the 30-hour meeting by SAG's sharply divided national board left in doubt, however, when union leaders might go ahead with a vote seeking formal permission from rank-and-file members to call a strike.
Faced with dwindling support for a strike authorization amid a worsening economy, SAG leaders announced last month they would delay the referendum for at least three weeks, until after the Jan. 12-13 board meeting, in hopes of restoring consensus.
In a terse statement issued at the end of the closed-door session, SAG said only that "no substantive actions were taken" and that "no mailing date has been set for the previously approved" strike referendum ballots.
Uncertainty over a strike vote also leaves in doubt whether next month's Oscars might be caught up in a labor confrontation.
SAG's 120,000 members have been without a film and prime-time TV contract since their old labor pact expired on June 30, after studios presented their "final" offer.
That deal essentially mirrors terms accepted by several other Hollywood labor groups, including a smaller actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
SAG and the studios remain firmly at odds over issues that center on how actors should be paid for work distributed over the Internet.
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