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After 3 months, SAG, AMPTP talk
Wednesday February 18th 2009The Screen Actors Guild has resumed contract talks with the congloms for the first time in three months amid expectations a tentative deal will emerge soon — though the timetable remains elusive.
Talks on SAG’s master primetime-feature contract launched Tuesday morning amid a news blackout at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The get-together — the first without Doug Allen leading SAG — lasted into the evening, and a second day of talks is set for today.
SAG, now headed at the bargaining table by longtime guild exec John McGuire, has given conflicting signals as to how rapidly the talks will go.
It’s scheduled a national board meeting for Saturday, which could result in that panel approving a tentative deal for ratification by members –meaning that members would be receiving ballots in the mail as early as next week. But if SAG doesn’t reach a deal this week, the talks probably wouldn’t resume until March 1, since McGuire’s set to begin a week of negotiations Monday on the commercials contract in New York.
SAG’s 120,000 members have been working under an expired film-TV deal since June 30. The town’s hopes for a resolution have risen in recent months as control of SAG’s national board shifted to a moderate coalition, culminating in the firing of Allen as chief negotiator and national exec director along with the replacement of the negotiating committee with a task force.
Before talks started, about 100 pickets from two groups demonstrated outside — SAG faction Membership First, which supports Allen and plans to oppose any deal that emerges; and Let’s Get Back to Work, a below-the-line org urging both sides to make a deal as soon as possible.
SAG member James St. James, carrying a sign reading, “We won’t bend over,” declared that SAG’s national board will OK any deal that emerges — an assertion shared by many other Membership First partisans.
“I think they’re just going through the motions,” he said of the new SAG task force.
During his tenure, Allen and the negotiating committee repeatedly rejected the AMPTP’s final offer, which has been on the table since June 30. That offer mirrors terms agreed to by the DGA, WGA, AFTRA, IATSE and casting directors.
“We know that it’s a bad deal,” said George Billinger, a cinematographer with a Back to Work sign. “But in this economy, SAG isn’t going to get a better deal than the other unions.”
Ed Gutentag, who organized the Back to Work group last month, said, “We need people to see that this situation remaining unresolved is having a real impact.”
Membership First has promised a fierce fight against ratification, as picketers carried signs reading “SAG Board Sells Us Out Again” and “Vote No on Contract.”
“We want members to realize that this deal is going to prevent actors from getting new-media residuals,” St. James said. “Once the precedent is set, the companies won’t ever let us have them.”
Peggy Miley, a former national board member, said she’s alarmed that the new majoirty of SAG’s board is too eager to settle with the congloms.
“And they are not moderates — they’re reactionaries,” she added. “John McGuire’s negotiated terrible deals.”
The talks ended at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening and will resume Wednesday morning.
Source: Variety
Headline, Industry News
After 3 months, SAG, AMPTP talk
Wednesday February 18th 2009The Screen Actors Guild has resumed contract talks with the congloms for the first time in three months amid expectations a tentative deal will emerge soon — though the timetable remains elusive.
Talks on SAG’s master primetime-feature contract launched Tuesday morning amid a news blackout at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The get-together — the first without Doug Allen leading SAG — lasted into the evening, and a second day of talks is set for today.
SAG, now headed at the bargaining table by longtime guild exec John McGuire, has given conflicting signals as to how rapidly the talks will go.
It’s scheduled a national board meeting for Saturday, which could result in that panel approving a tentative deal for ratification by members –meaning that members would be receiving ballots in the mail as early as next week. But if SAG doesn’t reach a deal this week, the talks probably wouldn’t resume until March 1, since McGuire’s set to begin a week of negotiations Monday on the commercials contract in New York.
SAG’s 120,000 members have been working under an expired film-TV deal since June 30. The town’s hopes for a resolution have risen in recent months as control of SAG’s national board shifted to a moderate coalition, culminating in the firing of Allen as chief negotiator and national exec director along with the replacement of the negotiating committee with a task force.
Before talks started, about 100 pickets from two groups demonstrated outside — SAG faction Membership First, which supports Allen and plans to oppose any deal that emerges; and Let’s Get Back to Work, a below-the-line org urging both sides to make a deal as soon as possible.
SAG member James St. James, carrying a sign reading, “We won’t bend over,” declared that SAG’s national board will OK any deal that emerges — an assertion shared by many other Membership First partisans.
“I think they’re just going through the motions,” he said of the new SAG task force.
During his tenure, Allen and the negotiating committee repeatedly rejected the AMPTP’s final offer, which has been on the table since June 30. That offer mirrors terms agreed to by the DGA, WGA, AFTRA, IATSE and casting directors.
“We know that it’s a bad deal,” said George Billinger, a cinematographer with a Back to Work sign. “But in this economy, SAG isn’t going to get a better deal than the other unions.”
Ed Gutentag, who organized the Back to Work group last month, said, “We need people to see that this situation remaining unresolved is having a real impact.”
Membership First has promised a fierce fight against ratification, as picketers carried signs reading “SAG Board Sells Us Out Again” and “Vote No on Contract.”
“We want members to realize that this deal is going to prevent actors from getting new-media residuals,” St. James said. “Once the precedent is set, the companies won’t ever let us have them.”
Peggy Miley, a former national board member, said she’s alarmed that the new majoirty of SAG’s board is too eager to settle with the congloms.
“And they are not moderates — they’re reactionaries,” she added. “John McGuire’s negotiated terrible deals.”
The talks ended at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening and will resume Wednesday morning.
Source: Variety
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Headline, Industry News
After 3 months, SAG, AMPTP talk
Wednesday February 18th 2009The Screen Actors Guild has resumed contract talks with the congloms for the first time in three months amid expectations a tentative deal will emerge soon — though the timetable remains elusive.
Talks on SAG’s master primetime-feature contract launched Tuesday morning amid a news blackout at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The get-together — the first without Doug Allen leading SAG — lasted into the evening, and a second day of talks is set for today.
SAG, now headed at the bargaining table by longtime guild exec John McGuire, has given conflicting signals as to how rapidly the talks will go.
It’s scheduled a national board meeting for Saturday, which could result in that panel approving a tentative deal for ratification by members –meaning that members would be receiving ballots in the mail as early as next week. But if SAG doesn’t reach a deal this week, the talks probably wouldn’t resume until March 1, since McGuire’s set to begin a week of negotiations Monday on the commercials contract in New York.
SAG’s 120,000 members have been working under an expired film-TV deal since June 30. The town’s hopes for a resolution have risen in recent months as control of SAG’s national board shifted to a moderate coalition, culminating in the firing of Allen as chief negotiator and national exec director along with the replacement of the negotiating committee with a task force.
Before talks started, about 100 pickets from two groups demonstrated outside — SAG faction Membership First, which supports Allen and plans to oppose any deal that emerges; and Let’s Get Back to Work, a below-the-line org urging both sides to make a deal as soon as possible.
SAG member James St. James, carrying a sign reading, “We won’t bend over,” declared that SAG’s national board will OK any deal that emerges — an assertion shared by many other Membership First partisans.
“I think they’re just going through the motions,” he said of the new SAG task force.
During his tenure, Allen and the negotiating committee repeatedly rejected the AMPTP’s final offer, which has been on the table since June 30. That offer mirrors terms agreed to by the DGA, WGA, AFTRA, IATSE and casting directors.
“We know that it’s a bad deal,” said George Billinger, a cinematographer with a Back to Work sign. “But in this economy, SAG isn’t going to get a better deal than the other unions.”
Ed Gutentag, who organized the Back to Work group last month, said, “We need people to see that this situation remaining unresolved is having a real impact.”
Membership First has promised a fierce fight against ratification, as picketers carried signs reading “SAG Board Sells Us Out Again” and “Vote No on Contract.”
“We want members to realize that this deal is going to prevent actors from getting new-media residuals,” St. James said. “Once the precedent is set, the companies won’t ever let us have them.”
Peggy Miley, a former national board member, said she’s alarmed that the new majoirty of SAG’s board is too eager to settle with the congloms.
“And they are not moderates — they’re reactionaries,” she added. “John McGuire’s negotiated terrible deals.”
The talks ended at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening and will resume Wednesday morning.
Source: Variety
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