sag.org
It’s a story that is just not going to go away. The Screen Actors Guild negotiating committee passed an advisory motion to the national board that recommends a strike authorization vote of the membership. In addition, they ask that the board adopt a resolution supporting the action, and recommending that membership vote in favor of strike authorization.
You can read the full text at deadlinehollywooddaily.com. This comes in the wake of a letter that SAG chief negotiator Doug Allen, and union president Alan Rosenberg, sent on Monday that urged a return to formal negotiations. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers elected to not resume negotiations. No progress has been made on the deal since the AMPTP issued their final offer on June 30th.
This isn’t necessarily a sign of doom and gloom, and another television season turned on its ear, like we saw last season with the writers’ strike. In fact, if you’d like to put your rose colored glasses on for a moment, it could be the best shot at actually getting a workable deal done.
At this point the issues are pretty clear, and there is a bit of the unstoppable force and the immovable object to the standoff. Both sides have decided that they are not going to give in, and something has to change. A strike authorization is one of those changes that could get things moving again. The authorization to call a strike is leverage that the SAG team hasn’t had to this point in the process.
The AMPTP issued their own press release in response, noting current “grim financial climate” and “harsh economic reality” as they asked, “Is this really the time for anyone associated with the entertainment business to be talking about going on strike?”
Now, I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m not a member of any of the involved organizations and my interest is, rather selfishly, in not having another television season interrupted. That being said, as an onlooker, I’ve chosen my side. In looking at those quotes, a question comes to mind. Is this really the time for anyone associated with the entertainment business to be risking the stop of production by trying to force an antiquated and unfair contract on their employees?
What do you think? Is the SAG negotiating committee right to recommend the strike authorization vote? Should the AMPTP continue to hold the line and refuse to negotiate? Or do you just want it to all be over with so you can watch some TV, secure in the knowledge that the rug isn’t going to be pulled out halfway through the season?
Clacked by Brett Love
on Oct 02, 2008 @ 14:01 EST5EDT
