UNION MEMBERS ON VERGE OF STRIKE ACTION

UNION MEMBERS ON VERGE OF STRIKE ACTION

LATEST: The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) will ask its members to authorise a strike, after the first discussion with movie studios in four months failed to produce a result.
Cardholders of the 120,000-strong SAG rejected a three-year deal offered by the major Hollywood studios and TV networks earlier this year (Jul08), and bosses of the actors' union were urged to ballot its members over strike action.
Negotiators on behalf of the organisation's members adjourned talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Saturday morning (22Nov08) after they were unable to reach a compromise after two marathon sessions with federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez.
And now SAG has said in a statement it will launch a "full-scale education campaign in support of a strike authorization".
It continued, "We have already made difficult decisions and sacrifices in an attempt to reach agreement. 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 detail what had caused the action, but claimed that "management continues to insist on terms we cannot responsibly accept."
The vote for strike action would take more than a month and require at least a 75 per cent approval from members to be passed.
SAG is pushing for more money for actors when their work is released on DVD, plus a greater say in the endorsement of products on-air.