As 2008 draws to a close with no contract between SAG and the AMPTP, the animosity between factions within SAG has only become more vitriolic. What is the best course of action? Accept a truly lousy contract now and hope to undo the damage in three years? Or reject the contract and take a strike [...]

SAG Announces Plan for Strike Authorization Vote: LOS ANGELES, DECEMBER 10, 2008 — Screen Actors Guild today announced that strike authorization ballots will be mailed to paid-up SAG members on Friday January 2, 2009, and will be tabulated on Friday, January 23. A yes vote by 75% of members voting is required to pass the [...]

“The facts of this matter are simple and straight forward. The WGA attempted for eight months, since March, to address via dialogue the AMPTP’s erroneous interpretation of our February agreement. These efforts included a number of conversations between the Guild’s executive director and at least one of the CEOs who made the deal with the [...]

A week or two back the WGA went public with its frustration over not receiving residuals from streaming and EST content. The WGA vented their frustration at the same time that the AMPTP was refusing to go back to the bargaining table with SAG. Here is the AMPTP response to WGA assertion that the AMPTP [...]

The bad blood between SAG and the AMPTP seems to be getting thicker as both sides take to hammering each other with press releases and letters to their memberships. First is SAGs official release following a full page ad the AMPTP published in the L.A. Times: Los Angeles, CA (December 01, 2008) – Today’s open [...]

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member, In an “open letter” full-page ad published today in the Los Angeles Times, eight entertainment industry CEO’s whose annual salaries and bonuses exceed the amount needed to achieve labor peace for our industry asked why SAG wants a better deal than the other Hollywood guilds. What they conveniently left out [...]

For some reason a couple of recent posts have disappeared so I’m republishing the following information. The sessions between SAG, AMPTP and a federal MEDIATOR went nowhere last week and now SAG is saying it will ask the membership for a strike authorization vote. Even though I have no desire to see a strike, I [...]

Los Angeles, CA (October 1, 2008) – The National TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee of Screen Actors Guild today passed the following advisory motion to the National Board: “Whereas, Screen Actors Guild has been and remains willing and able to continue formal and continuous negotiations with the AMPTP and the employers, with the intention of reaching a [...]

September 29, 2008 Dear Alan and Doug: This is in response to your letter dated September 29, 2008 to Peter Chernin, Robert Iger and me. Your letter indicates that the Screen Actors Guild is not prepared to change its position on any of the threshold issues in our negotiations. The Guild’s position remains unchanged since [...]

Here is a copy of the latest missive sent from the SAG negotiating team to their counterparts at AMPTP in an effort to get contract talks restarted: September 29, 2008 Dear Gentlemen: We believe it is clear that our members would fail to ratify your proposal of June 30, 2008. It would serve no productive [...]