Actors pull the trigger on a strike vote

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 11/22/08 — The Screen Actors Guild is calling for a strike authorization that would halt Hollywood — saying even Federal mediators could not help.
SAG said early this morning that all has failed in negotiations with producers (AMPTP) and they are finally sending out the strike letter. It seems like an odd time to call for a strike when their contract was up back in June and economic times are difficult, to say the least. Added to that, fall TV shows and 2009 films have been completed, assumedly giving a strike less clout.
The Writers Guild of America had strike authorization from its members long before negotiations even began in what turned out to be Hollywood’s deadliest strike, as budgets and stakes have skyrocketed in the years. SAG waiting this long has puzzled many. Producers and moguls have said they settled with WGA and the Directors Guild - and that should be enough for SAG - yet actors have a different set of residual and general payment issues un-addressed by other Guild’s negotiations. Full article
**********************************************

The following was sent in by VDOVault - thank you!

-- From SAG.org (it's in the Contract 2008 section)

November 22, 2008

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member
The National TV/Theatrical Negotiating team was optimistic that federal mediation would help to move our negotiations forward, but despite the Guild’s extraordinary efforts to reach agreement, the mediation was adjourned shortly before 1:00 a.m. today.

Management continues to insist on terms we cannot responsibly accept on behalf of our members. As previously authorized by the National Board of Directors, we will now launch a full-scale education campaign in support of a strike authorization referendum. We will further inform SAG members about the core, critical issues unique to actors that remain in dispute.

We have already made difficult decisions and sacrifices in an attempt to reach agreement.

Now it’s time for SAG members to stand united and empower the national negotiating committee to bargain with the strength of a possible work stoppage behind them.
We remain committed to avoiding a strike but now more than ever we cannot allow our employers to experiment with our careers. The WGA has already learned that the new media terms they agreed to with the AMPTP are not being honored. We cannot allow our employers to undermine the futures of SAG members and their families.

No timeline has been set for the mailing or return of the strike authorization ballots.

Further updates and information will be provided very soon.

***************************************

The following sent in by Peachybc - thanks!

From Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood

UPDATE: AMPTP Trash Talks SAG Strike"2ND UPDATE: New SAG-AMPTP post coming with all new information...

Just now, the Big Media cartel's negotiating clique, the AMPTP, issued this statement about SAG's decision to seek a strike authorization vote from its members now that all talks have broken down and federal mediation has been adjourned. (It's interesting that the AMPTP has yet to comment on the WGA's announcement this week that the infotainment conglomerates have failed to comply with the contract negotiated to end the 100-day writers strike by not paying residuals for writers’ work that is reused on New Media and forcing the WGA to file for arbitration.):

"Let's review the facts: SAG is the only major Hollywood guild that has failed to negotiate a labor deal in 2008. Now, SAG is bizarrely asking its members to bail out the failed negotiating strategy with a strike vote - at a time of historic economic crisis. The tone deafness of SAG is stunning."..."