Hollywood Labor News

Hey, remember not so long ago when the Writers Guild of America couldn't make a deal with the Producers and it looked like there might be a Writers Strike? Well, it looks like we're there again, only with the Actors…

We have presented reasonable proposals to address the critical concerns facing our members and that are integral to making a living in this industry. The AMPTP has responded with outrageous rollbacks that cut to the core of our basic terms and conditions. Despite our efforts, the AMPTP has failed to make sufficient progress on our most critical issues. The status quo is simply unacceptable and our members, standing together, will not give in to management's onerous demands nor back down on our critical proposals.

After a comprehensive update from the negotiating committee, the National Board of Directors today unanimously voted to authorize sending out a strike authorization referendum to SAG-AFTRA members, unless a satisfactory agreement is reached by June 30, 2017.

I dunno quite how to score this one. SAG-AFTRA is a strange beast because it has so many members who do not rely on acting jobs for their main source of income. They have a lot of folks in there who do something else to pay the rent and then the two or three acting jobs they get each year are kind of a bonus in terms of money and maybe ego. But then they also have a lot of people who are pretty militant about wanting to act…and i don't know how the two groups currently stack up against each other.

Also: Of all the unions, SAG-AFTRA has the widest disparity in income between the top folks and the bottom ones. They generally manage to unite pretty well against the whole idea of rollbacks. If major ones remain on the table, there will be a strike.

We are only days from the above-stated deadline. If there's no agreement by this Friday, there will be a strike authorization vote — not a vote to strike but a vote to authorize the guild leadership to call a strike if the two sides remain far apart with no hope for movement. This is what the WGA did and the massive support theirs got from the members seems to have unjammed things in the bargaining and led to an acceptable deal. The most likely scenario for SAG-AFTRA would seem to be following the writers' script…but you never know for sure with this guild.

One key difference between the guilds, of course, is that when actors go on strike, it immediately shuts down most production. When we writers go out, it sometimes takes everyone but the soap opera producers and late night watchers a little time to notice. If I had to bet, I'd bet on no strike. And if that happens, SAG-AFTRA will owe the Writers Guild residuals for replaying their plan.