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Post by Finaddict on Oct 6, 2008 19:43:35 GMT -5
In this dire economy the thought of strike is repugnant. Let us hope that SAG comes to its senses and quickly.
Thank you for the update, Rambabe.
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Post by rambabe on Oct 16, 2008 18:26:43 GMT -5
I totally agree, Finaddict. Here's a point of view from Peter Chernin, News Corp COO. www.variety.com/article/VR1117994140.html?categoryid=18&cs=1Posted: Thurs., Oct. 16, 2008, 1:11pm PT Chernin: SAG strike is a bad idea News Corp. chief sends warning to guild By DAVE MCNARY With SAG leaders on the verge of deciding whether to ask members for a strike authorization, News Corp chief operating officer Peter Chernin has warned the guild that striking is a lousy idea amid a reeling economy. "I think it's genuinely foolhardy to think this is an appropriate time to go out on strike," said Chernin on Thursday at a TV Week media conference in New York. "It would be devastating for the entire creative community for the actors to go out on strike." Chernin also reiterated the congloms' stance that they won't sweeten the June 30 final offer to SAG, which has been insisting that it deserves a better deal than the WGA, DGA and AFTRA. The two sides haven't met since July 16. "We have now made successful deals with virtually the entire Hollywood creative community," he added. "SAG has come in and basically said: 'The deal you made with everyone else is not good enough for us. We've made our final offer. We don't want to send a false message that there is room for negotiation. We're done." Chernin, along with Disney topper Robert Iger, played a key role in crafting the deals with the DGA and WGA. He said that the key to resolving the WGA pact was creating the precedent for creatives to be paid for digital content in exchange for allowing the companies to experiment with digital delivery without a significant amount of undue restrictions. " SAG's national board will meet Saturday to determine whether the guild will send out a strike authorization -- as recommended two weeks ago by SAG's negotiating committee. If approved, that would trigger the mailing of authorization ballots to SAG's 120,000 members and the ballots' return over the following 30-45 days. Saturday's meeting is the first since last month's election, which saw the dominant Hollywood-based Membership First faction lose control of the board for the first time since 2005 to a coalition of the startup Unite for Strength faction plus the New York and regional reps. The moderates -- who have been critical of aspects of the leadership's handling of the contract negotiations -- have not yet revealed their strategy. It's unclear whether SAG members would support a strike authorization amid the current economic crisis, particularly since such a vote would require 75% approval among those casting ballots. In a message sent to members Oct. 9, SAG president Alan Rosenberg and national exec director Allen laid out the timeline for going on strike over SAG's master contract on features and primetime. "If 75% of the qualified SAG members who vote in the referendum support the strike authorization, only then can the national board of directors call an actual work stoppage, should the board decide that it has become necessary to do so," Rosenberg and Allen said in the missive. The duo noted that it was important to understand that if the resolution's approved by the national board, does not trigger a strike automatically. But the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, iIn a response issued last week, took issue with the assertion that the authorization wouldn't lead to a strike. "SAG negotiators seem determined to force another unnecessary, harmful strike," the AMPTP said. "Why else would SAG negotiators be unreasonably insisting, at a time of national economic collapse, on a better deal than the one achieved by the other Hollywood guilds much earlier this year, during much better economic times?" Read the full article at: www.variety.com/article/VR1117994140.html
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Post by Finaddict on Oct 16, 2008 20:11:48 GMT -5
Great article, thanks for posting it and I agree with the writer 120%.
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Post by rambabe on Oct 24, 2008 12:18:47 GMT -5
Thanks to KatRose at the USANetwork board. Daily Variety October 23, 2008 SAG, Alliance agree to mediate Federal supervisor to sit in on union talks By DAVE MCNARY The congloms will take their first step next week toward returning to the bargaining table with SAG under the supervision of a federal mediator. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is set to meet next Thursday with mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez, according to a source close to the studios. No date’s been set for actual resumption of the long-stalled negotiations, however. As expected, the AMPTP announced Thursday that it had agreed to the Screen Actors Guild request that both sides meet with Gonzalez with the goal of relaunching negotiations. SAG national exec director Doug Allen said in response, "We look forward to meeting with the federal mediator and the AMPTP committee as soon as possible." The two sides — which have remained far apart in many areas, particularly new media — last met officially on July 16. The AMPTP left little doubt that it’s not budging from its final offer, made June 30 as SAG’s feature-primetime contract expired. The org, which serves as the bargaining arm for the congloms, noted that it’s reached deals with the WGA, DGA and AFTRA and added that SAG’s insisted that it must receive sweeter terms. "It will be very difficult to reach an agreement if SAG continues to insist unreasonably that it deserves a better deal than the ones achieved by the other entertainment guilds during far better economic times," the AMPTP said. The congloms have warned in recent months that they may reduce the value of the final offer due to the souring economy. "The producers have demonstrated our willingness to bargain reasonably," it said. "So far this year, we have reached four major labor agreements, and each one of these agreements has required compromise after compromise on our part. We have also offered compromises to SAG already in a package that includes more than $250 million in economic gains and ground-breaking new-media rights." SAG’s disputed that figure as too high, and its top leaders haven’t backed off their stance that the final offer falls short, particularly in new media. In the meantime, studios and nets have continued to bet that SAG won’t strike amid the economic downturn. Feature film production will see a major increase early next year as studios begin filling out their 2010 slates (Daily Variety, Oct. 8). Stats released Thursday by the FilmL.A. permitting agency showed that third-quarter off-lot feature production slid 37% to 1,181 days while TV jumped 17% to 6,959. The feature number was the lowest since record-keeping began in 1994, reflecting the uncertainty over SAG. "Most major-studio feature films still shooting during the quarter completed production by the end of July, and only a few sought permits to film on-location in August and September," noted FilmL.A. veep Todd Lindgren. TV production, however, posted its second highest quarter ever, trailing only the second quarter’s total of 8,469 when the biz rebounded from the WGA strike. Dramas rose 23% and reality gained 14%, while sitcoms slid 7% and pilots dropped 45%. SAG’s national board held off last weekend on conducting a strike authorization vote in favor of seeking a mediator — possibly a reflection of the shift in control of the board following last month’s election, which saw a more moderate faction emerge with a narrow majority. SAG’s national board also decided last weekend that if the guild’s negotiating committee determines that the new round of talks has failed, the negotiating committee would then have the power to ask SAG members for a strike authorization — a process that would take 30-45 days and require more than 75% of members voting to approve for a strike to occur. The national board would have the final decision on a work stoppage. In a postcard survey last month, more than 87% of 810,298 SAG members who responded endorsed the guild’s position of holding out for a better deal. Read the full article at: www.variety.com/article/VR1117994545.html
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Post by oowsvu on Oct 24, 2008 12:59:14 GMT -5
this is crazy! i thought it was over but i guess i wasn't paying much attention since last year!
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Post by Finaddict on Oct 27, 2008 5:37:03 GMT -5
I think that those 87% who want to hold out will be sadly disappointed. A strike makes no sense now.
Thanks for updating us.
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Post by rambabe on Oct 30, 2008 18:09:32 GMT -5
I am totally fed up with this! SAG could strike in November www.variety.com/article/VR1117993816.html?categoryid=18&cs=1SAG could strike in November National board to meet next weekend By DAVE MCNARY The Screen Actors Guild could go on strike before the end of November. In a message sent to members late Thursday, SAG president Alan Rosenberg and national exec director Doug Allen told members that the national board will meet next weekend on the question of whether to conduct a strike authorization over SAG's master contract on features and primetime. If the national board approves, the leaders said than SAG will then need 30 to 45 days to hold such a vote among members. "If 75% of the qualified SAG members who vote in the referendum support the strike authorization, only then can the national board of directors call an actual work stoppage, should the board decide that it has become necessary to do so," Rosenberg and Allen said in the missive. The duo noted that it was "important" to note that if passed by a majority of the national board, the resolution does not call a strike. "It only provides for a membership referendum to be conducted, which will take approximately 30 to 45 days," they said. In a response issued Friday, the congloms took issue with the assertion by Rosenberg and Allen that the authorization wouldn't lead to a strike. "SAG negotiators seem determined to force another unnecessary, harmful strike," the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers said. "Why else would SAG negotiators be unreasonably insisting, at a time of national economic collapse, on a better deal that the one achieved by the other Hollywood Guilds much earlier this year, during much better economic times?" The notice is the guild's first official notification of members of a possible timeline for a strike. However, it's uncertain whether SAG's national board will support sending out the strike authorization when it meets on Oct. 18. Rosenberg and Allen noted that SAG’s negotiating committee passed a resolution on Oct. 1 urging the national board to take a strike authorization vote -- even though the negotiating committee had the power to initiate the vote on its own. Instead, the committee deferred the matter to the national board, where control shifted last month away from the Hollywood-based Membership First faction, led by Rosenberg, to a less assertive coalition composed of reps from the New York and regional branches and the upstart Unite for Strength faction. Unite for Strength, which gained enough Hollywood seats to give the moderates a one-vote edge, hasn't yet revealed whether it will support the call for a strike authorization vote. During its campaign, Unite for Strength asserted that Membership First had bungled the negotiations by alienating the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, which saw its members ratify AFTRA's primetime deal in July over SAG's objections. Rosenberg and Allen also noted that a strike would not impact work on the more than 750 indie features that have been given waivers -- or guaranteed completion contracts -- under which producers who aren't repped by the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers agree to adhere to whatever deal SAG signs with the AMPTP. SAG began giving waivers months before the June 30 expiration of the contract so significant numbers of those projects have already been shot. The AMPTP has blasted SAG’s efforts to move toward a strike authorization on two fronts. They've pointed out that SAG continues to seek sweeter terms than the WGA, DGA and AFTRA and that it's doing so with the world in a financial crisis. SAG and the AMPTP have not met since July 16. Allen insists that informal negotiations have been taking place since then -- an assertion that's been explicitly and repeatedly denied by the majors. For its part, SAG announced Sept. 29 that it wanted to resume talks after highlighting three issues as keys to reaching a deal -- payment for repeats via Web streaming of made-for-Internet productions; SAG jurisdiction for all made-for-Internet productions; and maintaining the force majeure provision in the expired master contract. But AMTP president Nick Counter said the same day that further talks would be not be productive as long as SAG’s positions remained unchanged from their last face-to-face meeting in July. "The DGA, WGA and AFTRA reached agreement on comparable terms months ago, during far better economic times, and it is unrealistic for SAG negotiators now to expect even better terms during this grim financial climate," the AMPTP warned on Oct. 1. " This is the harsh economic reality, and no strike will change that reality." The AMPTP's calculator on its Web site estimated as of Friday that SAG members have lost over $23.3 million in gains they would have achieved over the past three and a half months had the majors' final offer been ratified. Read the full article at: www.variety.com/article/VR1117993816.html
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Post by Finaddict on Oct 31, 2008 5:33:07 GMT -5
thanks for the update. This is just so upsetting. No one is going to gain anything with another strike.
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Post by rambabe on Nov 1, 2008 11:56:14 GMT -5
SAG to meet with mediator Weds. Guild, AMPTP negotiations still up in the air Oct. 31, 2008 By DAVE MCNARY In another step toward possible resumption of the stalled SAG negotiations, leaders of the Screen Actors Guild have agreed to meet again with a federal mediator next Wednesday. SAG made a bare-bones announcement Friday afternoon about the upcoming meeting with Juan Carlos Gonzalez -- a day after Gonzalez held his initial meeting with the congloms. The Guild asked for mediation on Oct. 19 and Gonzalez met five days later with SAG president Alan Rosenberg, national exec director Doug Allen and contracts chief Ray Rodriguez. He'll meet next week with a far larger contingent -- SAG's negotiating committee, which was recently expanded from 13 to 17 members. No date’s been set for the resumption of talks. As with its announcement last week about its first meeting with Gonzalez, SAG hasn't included any re-statement of its previous opposition to the final offer from the majors. Gonzalez met for several hours Thursday afternoon with the majors at the Sherman Oaks HQ of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers -- six days after holding his first meeting with SAG. The AMPTP issued a short statement after that meeting, disclosing that the group had provided Gonzalez with background information on the major labor agreements it reached earlier this year with WGA, DGA and AFTRA -- which contain terms similar to the offer to SAG. The two sides haven't negotiated since July 16. SAG unsuccessfully attempted to restart negotiations Sept. 30, when it announced a trio of "threshold" issues: new-media jurisdiction for all productions, rather than the $15,000-per-minute budget threshold the majors propose; securing residual fees for made-for-Internet productions when those productions are reused on new-media platforms; and continuing force majeure protections for actors, which the majors have sought to eliminate. SAG's leaders rejected the idea of a mediator in August but its national board saw control shift to moderates in September elections. The panel voted on Oct. 19 to go that route rather than conduct a strike authorization vote. The guild's negotiating committee can ask SAG members for a strike authorization should mediation fail. That vote would take up to 45 days and require more than 75% of members voting to approve for a strike to occur. Should SAG members approve a strike authorization, the guild's national board would have the final decision on whether to go on strike. Read the full article at: www.variety.com/article/VR1117995110.html
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Post by Finaddict on Nov 2, 2008 15:30:47 GMT -5
I hope that common sense will prevail in this. Thanks again for the update.
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Post by rambabe on Nov 11, 2008 18:56:27 GMT -5
There seems to be no end in sight. November 11, 2008 Daily Variety AMPTP, mediator to talk Thursday SAG negotiations still in limbo By DAVE MCNARY The Screen Actors Guild and the majors continue to creep back toward the negotiating table, with federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers agreeing to meet again Thursday. No date's been set yet for the resumption of SAG contract negotiations, which broke off on July 16. Neither side had any comment Monday. The confab will be the second meeting between Gonzalez and the AMPTP, coming two weeks after their first powwow. SAG asked for the mediation on Oct. 19 and met five days later with Gonzalez, then met again with him last Wednesday. It appears the earliest date for restarting the SAG-AMPTP talks would be late next week. The AMPTP restarted negotiations Monday with the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees; those talks are scheduled to continue through Wednesday, then resume next Monday through Wednesday. And it's still unclear if Gonzalez will be able to persuade both SAG and the AMPTP that it's worth giving formal bargaining another try. After meeting for more than 40 sessions between April and July, negotiators failed to close major gaps on multiple fronts -- particularly new media -- with SAG contending it has to achieve sweeter terms than the other Hollywood guilds and the congloms insisting they won't revise their final offer, especially amid a souring economy. The final offer was issued June 30 as the guild's master contract expired. SAG's move toward mediation began in August, when the moderates on the guild's national board sought such a step and were spurned by SAG president Alan Rosenberg, who criticized the idea as counterproductive. In September, SAG members strongly supported holding out for a better deal in a postcard poll; the AMPTP blasted the effort as flawed and the questions as misleading. Control of the SAG board shifted in September to the moderates, resulting in last month's resolution to bring a mediator aboard. The calculator on the AMPTP website estimated that as of Monday, SAG members have lost more than $30 million in gains they would have achieved over the past 4½ months had the majors' final offer been ratified. Uncertainty over a possible SAG strike -- which would require 75% support in an authorization vote by guild members -- has slowed feature production in Hollywood in recent months. Stats released Monday by the FilmL.A. permitting agency showed that October off-lot feature production slid 36% to 408 days, following a 37% decline in the third quarter. October TV production stayed steady, however, with dramas shot off lot edging down 2% to 758 days while reality shows jumped 10% to 1,134 days. Overall third-quarter TV production was the second highest ever, soaring 17% to 6,959 days. Studios appear to be betting that SAG won't strike. Feature production is expected to ramp up next year as studios prep to put at least 40 films into production between spring and summer in order to fill slates for 2010 and 2011 (Daily Variety, Oct. 8). Read the full article at: www.variety.com/article/VR1117995637.html
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Post by Finaddict on Nov 12, 2008 22:27:25 GMT -5
I can't understand what SAG thinks it will get out of this. Thanks for continuing to post updates, Rambabe.
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Post by rambabe on Nov 21, 2008 18:30:31 GMT -5
Daily Variety November 21, 2008 SAG, majors meet for contract talks Negotiations to reconvene Friday By DAVE MCNARY In their first meeting in four months, SAG and the majors have staged a marathon session that will reconvene on Friday. The talks -- orchestrated by federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez, lasted 12 hours before recessing at about 11 p.m. Thursday. Neither side had any comment. But despite the length of the session, early indications were that SAG's bitter contract stalemate with the congloms won't be resolved soon as progress appears to have been negligible. Gonzalez emphasized at the start of the meeting that the proceedings would be confidential. People familiar with the meeting disclosed that it consisted of little more than each side re-stating its positions. Expectations remain low that the mediation will lead to a deal. The Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers have stressed they haven't changed their negotiating postures, with SAG demanding a better deal than the other Hollywood unions and the congloms are insisting they won't change terms of their June 30 final offer. Among labor insiders, the only optimism that a deal can be reached comes from the recent lack of verbal fireworks from either side and SAG's willingness to put a strike authorization vote on hold while the mediation process plays out. But the negotiators achieved minimal progress in more than 40 sessions between April and July. Each side received a boost in their negotiating positions prior to the meeting. The AMPTP concluded negotiations Wednesday on a tentative three-year deal with IATSE. That prompted the congloms to note that it was the sixth such master contract it had reached this year including deals with the DGA, WGA, casting directors and two pacts with AFTRA. As for SAG, its stance of insisting it's entitled to sweeter terms than the other unions was bolstered Wednesday as the WGA blasted the AMPTP by accusing the companies of nonpayment of new-media residuals -- an assertion denied by the companies, which said the WGA is wrong about the applicable dates in the contract. Should the mediation fail, SAG's negotiating committee could ask the guild's 120,000 members for a strike authorization. That's a potentially embarrassing step for guild leaders since members who cast ballots might might not back the authorization by the 75% level needed for the guild to go out on strike -- particularly while the economy continues to implode. Supporters of seeking the strike authorization have pointed to a September postcard poll of SAG members in which 87% of the respondents endorsed holding out for a better deal. The final decision on striking would rest with the national board, in which control shifted to a more moderate faction in September elections. New York reps, who are part of that coalition, had sought mediation a month earlier but were spurned by SAG prexy Alan Rosenberg on grounds that mediation hadn't worked during the WGA negotiations. Gonzalez had no success a year ago when he was brought in as the mediator prior to the WGA strike. Thursday's SAG-AMPTP session marked the one-year anniversary of the WGA's solidarity march on Hollywood Boulevard, an event that drew about 4,000 supporters. Should the mediation process crater, a SAG strike could be called as early as January. That could imperil the Jan. 11 Golden Globes -- which saw this year's awards show reduced to a news conference after SAG said its members would not cross WGA picket lines. Read the full article at: www.variety.com/article/VR1117996269.html
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Post by Finaddict on Nov 21, 2008 20:41:03 GMT -5
OMG. What are they thinking? Don't these SAG officials read the news?
Strikes are just ridiculous at this stage of the game.
Thanks for the update.
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Post by rambabe on Nov 22, 2008 13:18:53 GMT -5
This is worse than BAD!! news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081122/ap_en_mo/hollywood_laborHollywood actors guild to seek strike Sat Nov 22, 6:30 am ET LOS ANGELES – The Screen Actors Guild said Saturday it will ask its members to authorize a strike after its first contract talks in four months with Hollywood studios failed despite the help of a federal mediator. The guild said it adjourned talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers shortly before 1 a.m. after two marathon sessions with federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez. SAG, representing more than 120,000 actors in movies, television and other media, said in a statement that it will launch a "full-scale education campaign in support of a strike authorization." "We have already made difficult decisions and sacrifices in an attempt to reach agreement," the statement said. "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." The statement did not specify what led to the impasse, saying only that "management continues to insist on terms we cannot responsibly accept." A SAG spokeswoman said she would not comment further. A call to the movie producers group, known as the AMPTP, was not immediately returned. SAG's national board has already authorized its negotiating committee to call for a strike authorization vote if mediation failed. The vote would take more than a month and require more than 75 percent approval to pass. SAG is seeking union coverage for all Internet-only productions regardless of budget and residual payments for Internet productions replayed online, as well as continued actor protections during work stoppages But the AMPTP said it was untenable for SAG to demand a better deal than what writers, directors and another actors union accepted earlier in the year, especially now that the economy has worsened. Earlier this week, the producers' group said it had reached its sixth labor deal this year, a tentative agreement on a three-year contract with the local branches of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts, accounting for 35,000 workers. The stagehands alliance accepted Internet provisions that were modeled on agreements with other unions, the producers group said. Actors in prime-time television shows and movies have been working under the terms of a contract that expired June 30, with the hope of avoiding a repeat of the 100-day writers strike which shut down production of dozens of TV shows and cost the Los Angeles area economy an estimated $2.5 billion.
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