SAG negotiating committee considers seeking strike vote

Now that the studios have rebuffed an offer from the Screen Actors Guild to resume formal negotiations, expect things to get ugly fast.

The union's negotiating committee will decide Wednesday whether to seek strike authorization from members should SAG and the studios reach an official impasse -- or defer that decision to the national board. The board meets Oct. 18.

Strike referendums require approval by 75% of voting members. That may be hard to achieve given the dire economy. But a majority of negotiating-committee members believe SAG has few remaining options, short of capitulating on key demands over new-media pay, guild insiders say.

The national board already gave the negotiating committee authority to seek a strike vote. However, the board could still vote to disband the committee, given the election of new directors who challenged the guild's leadership.

-- Richard Verrier

Comments

[DA in LA]

Bring it on. I vote for a strike.

[Hollywood Dodger Mark]

The most dysfunctional union I've ever seen. And I'm in it! The guilds in general reflect the nature and style of the jobs they represent. I'm also in the wga and when they consider striking, its all deep thoughts and philosophical arguments. With SAG it's all DRAMA. All the time.

[Andrew Hyatt Masset]

Well SAG...you played this one brilliantly!
You managed to alienate our sister Union (AFTRA) with pure nonsense. They decide to go their seperate ways, weakening our solidarity by 50%. Then you hem and haw while the writers, Directors and Aftra make a deal. So here we are, alone on a sinking raft, wondering why the Producers are laughing at our demands.
You guys handled this one about as poorly as possible.
Time to step aside and let intelligent people try to salvage what we can from this calamity.
30 years as a member of both Unions and i'm not sure why i even joined anymore.
A very dissapointed actor.
Andrew

[Rocco]

Go ahead and strike. And then watch your union get busted and AFTRA become the prevailing labor union for actors. SAG members, I know that you are not foolish enough to follow the ideals of lunacy being propagated by Allen and Rosenberg. The country is at a financial tipping point, recession and worse depression are a very real possibility, and you're going to authorize a labor stoppage? Well, I've got bad news for you if you do. All of the restaurant jobs will be already taken by those previously in the financial, automotive, and real estate sectors. Good luck, hope y'all saved tons of money and kept it under the mattress.

[Penny Black]

What is wrong here. The unemployment rate in California is at 7% and you want to strike? Why? People need to work and take care of themselves and their families. Some of us don't have millions of dollars in the bank where it doesn't matter if we work or not. The SAG leadership is horrible. They rather people tap into their life savings and maybe lose thier homes.
Hello people you pretend for a living. You are not curing cancer.
I really hope the actors don't strike. I know our familly and many others can not afford this.

[sam]

Penny, you're a fool if you think that all actors make millions. In fact most of us make relatively little, and what we make we have to spend, again on stuff for acting.
SAG is a 'UNION', and is there to protect actors, not other people- so no we dont have to worry about your home or family, we just don't.
If you feel that life is stiffing you, well you should have paid better attention in high school, gone to college and landed in a better job.
get some facts before you sell a sob story to us.