F. de Marzipan
03-31-2008, 12:56 PM
Hollywood Actors' Unions Bitterly Part Ways (http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20187164,00.html)
Despite a plea in February by George Clooney and fellow Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep to avert an actors' strike that could once again shut down the industry, the two Hollywood unions representing performers suddenly split this weekend rather than join forces, as had been hoped for.
On Saturday, just prior to a board meeting set to establish a joint negotiating strategy, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists suspended its bargaining alliance with the larger Screen Actors Guild, The New York Times reports.
The actors' current contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expires on June 30. Negotiations to fashion a new contract were to begin in two weeks.
AFTRA, which has 70,000 members (120,000 actors belong to SAG), now intends to begin talks with producers as soon as possible. In a brief statement, the studios' Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said it welcomed the opportunity.
Accusations Exchanged
This does not mean the situation is friendly. The trade paper Daily Variety reports that the divorce between the two unions is likely to "muddy the town's labor outlook."
What reportedly prompted the split was SAG's alleged attempt to step into AFTRA's waters and negotiate on behalf of the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
"We can't trust SAG," AFTRA president Roberta Reardon told Variety. "Their leaders have engaged in a concerted effort to tarnish AFTRA's reputation and diminish our standing."
SAG president Alan Rosenberg responded by saying, "I think what AFTRA's done is unconscionable, and I'm sick of getting lectures about trust from them. I'm furious about what they've done."
I don't pay much attention to the Hollywood buzz, but if these idiots don't figure out how to work together and my Lost shows suffer for it, someone's gonna pay.
:rant:
Despite a plea in February by George Clooney and fellow Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep to avert an actors' strike that could once again shut down the industry, the two Hollywood unions representing performers suddenly split this weekend rather than join forces, as had been hoped for.
On Saturday, just prior to a board meeting set to establish a joint negotiating strategy, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists suspended its bargaining alliance with the larger Screen Actors Guild, The New York Times reports.
The actors' current contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expires on June 30. Negotiations to fashion a new contract were to begin in two weeks.
AFTRA, which has 70,000 members (120,000 actors belong to SAG), now intends to begin talks with producers as soon as possible. In a brief statement, the studios' Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said it welcomed the opportunity.
Accusations Exchanged
This does not mean the situation is friendly. The trade paper Daily Variety reports that the divorce between the two unions is likely to "muddy the town's labor outlook."
What reportedly prompted the split was SAG's alleged attempt to step into AFTRA's waters and negotiate on behalf of the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
"We can't trust SAG," AFTRA president Roberta Reardon told Variety. "Their leaders have engaged in a concerted effort to tarnish AFTRA's reputation and diminish our standing."
SAG president Alan Rosenberg responded by saying, "I think what AFTRA's done is unconscionable, and I'm sick of getting lectures about trust from them. I'm furious about what they've done."
I don't pay much attention to the Hollywood buzz, but if these idiots don't figure out how to work together and my Lost shows suffer for it, someone's gonna pay.
:rant: