Strike looms as actors negotiate commercials pact

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE52H24O20090318

Wed Mar 18, 2009 5:55am EDT

By Andrew Salomon and Jay A. Fernandez

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - As if actors needed more bad news about labor talks, there's this: Leaders of the two main Hollywood performers' unions are considering sending out strike-authorization ballots unless negotiations with advertisers on a new commercials contract improve quickly.

A labor insider says representatives of the advertising industry are asking for "radical" rollbacks, including the elimination of the traditional pay structure on national broadcast commercials and caps on contributions to the unions' pension and health plans. Labor negotiators also are concerned about a proposal to extend the working day to 10 hours from eight, thus reducing overtime pay.

If strike-authorization ballots are sent out, they would be distributed jointly by the Screen Actors Guild and the smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists to members of both labor organizations.

The negotiating committee for the commercial talks is made up of 13 AFTRA members and 13 SAG members, seven of whom come from SAG-Hollywood.

SAG-Hollywood is dominated by the oft-militant MembershipFirst faction, which accounted for a majority of the onetime negotiating committee on SAG's long-running film and TV contract talks. That SAG committee was replaced by a task force under chief negotiator John McGuire after the dismissal of SAG executive director Doug Allen.

NEW CHALLENGES

Labor insiders say it has become something of a pattern in commercials talks for management negotiators to play hardball until a strike-authorization vote is held.

FULL story at link.

[skooooo]

1. I'm not sure people are going to be too sympathetic..

...for striking actors with everything else going on now.

[billyoc]

2. This isn't the People's Choice Awards.

Who gives a fuck how "sympathetic" people are going to be?!

[skooooo]

3. Oh...I'm sorry...I thought it was the People's Choice award!

And, yes it does matter if people are sympathetic when a group decides to go on strike.

Sorry if you disagree.

[billyoc]

4. If Unions waited to act until there wasn't "too much else going on right now",

or "people are sympathetic", there'd be no such thing as an 8 hour day or a weekend.

[skooooo]

7. Well, I'm not sure if that's right or wrong.

I guess we'd have to go back and look at how the public supported or didn't support labor reform at the time.

[Donnachaidh]

5. well if all you're interested in is American Idol I'm sure you wouldn't be sympathetic

But the fact REMAINS that many of those union actors DON'T make the huge salaries you think all actors get. Only something like 5 per cent of the union members make huge salaries -- the rest are dependant on commercial work etc., that pays SCALE wages. An actor might get a lucky break and do one nationwide commercial that may get them around 40K for that commercial IF it runs for awhile.

These are the same folks who buy houses, send their kids to school, and try to make a living at a craft they are good at. Should we blow raspberries at them by NOT backing their need for a living wage?

[skooooo]

6. I'm not the problem...

...I was merely reflecting on how the public will view this. With so many people out of work, there won't be a lot of sympathy. All my life I have heard yellow dog democrats make comments about things like this -- and how it does matter whether the public sympathizes with a group. If the public is on your side, you stand a better chance of negotiating for what you want/ need.

[Donnachaidh]

8. this is very MUCH the time for UNIONS to stand up and SHOW Americans

that they CAN and DO fight for workers rights.

And I'll bet the public WILL be watching, especially with the Employee Free Choice Act pending.