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No Strike So Far!
Written By
Pepper Jay
Your Host
Brett Howell
Published: Sunday, January 25th, 2009
Welcome to Hot Topic
No strike so far! YEAH! One of the hottest topics in the entertainment industry over the past year was will and/or should the Screen Actors Guild go on strike. This “Hot Topic” section of the Actors Reporter became a one stop industry shop for current possible strike info.
The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists must decide within the next few months if they’re going to negotiate together on the primetime-feature contract with the majors.
A SAG strike in the upcoming negotiating cycle is “difficult to envision,” a source from SAG’s moderate faction, Unite for Strength, told entertainment lawyer, Jonathan Handel, though he/she cautioned that avoiding one will require that management negotiate reasonably and he/she wouldn’t take the strike option off the table (as, indeed, no union could). The source also said SAG’s upcoming January 31 national board meeting will probably feature a move towards resurrecting joint bargaining with AFTRA, adding that he/she was confident that bargaining later this year would indeed be jointly conducted. If the board does act on January 31, look for AFTRA’s board to respond at its February 27 meeting.
However, so far, the performers unions haven’t taken any formal steps toward joint bargaining, even with SAG obligated to begin 7 weeks of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion PIcture and Television Producers October 1st, 2010.
The current SAG and AFTRA master contracts, which were negotiated separately for the first time in 3 decades, both expire June 30th, 2011.
Neutral reporting on this Hot Topic requires links to all sides of the issue:
- The Screen Actors Guild website, for SAG’s position.
- website: www.sag.org
- The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers website for AMPTP’s position.
- website: www.amptp.org
And, links to these commentators, opinions, and blogs for varied reactions:
- The blog of entertainment lawyer, Jonathan Handel, specializing in Digital Media Law, Jonathan has been appointed as an Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of Law. He’ll be teaching a course on entertainment unions and guilds, starting in January 2010. He will continue as of counsel at TroyGould.
- The SAG watch blog (no association with Sag, itself)
- Updated Email from Doug Allen
- The Elephant in the Room, by John Cygan
- Operation Anti-Strike 2009
- Message from Ken Howard, SAG President
- Zimbio re Alan Rosenberg, Former SAG President
- Wikipedia (yes, it also has a SAG update page)
The industry seemed to be holding its breath. Finally, we can exhale; at least for a moment.
As with all Hot Topics covered by Actors Reporter, if you become aware of a link commentating on the Hot Topic that you feel we should consider including in this section, please let us know.
Thank you for joining Actors Reporter at Hot Topic!
Tags: AFTRA, Alan Rosenberg, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AMPTP, Brett Howell, Digital Media Law, Doug Allen, Elephant in the Room, Hot Topic, John Cygan, Jonathan Handel, negotiations, Operation Anti-Strike, primetime-feature contract, SAG, SAG watch blog, screen actors guild, strike, Troy Gould, Unite for Strength, Wikipedia
What a great idea … to put links to all sides of the issue in one place. Thanks!