SAG Urges Members To Reject AFTRA Deal
More Than Half of AFTRA Members Also Members of SAG.
By B&C Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/9/2008 9:24:00 PM
The Screen Actors Guild launched the public phase of its contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers Monday in the form of a rally in Los Angeles.
With a few hundred members in attendance, speakers including SAG chief Alan Rosenberg, SAG chief negotiator Doug Allen, Writers Guild of America, West chief Patric Verrone and WGAW chief negotiator David Young addressed the crowd. (Click here to watch a video of Rosenberg address the crowd.)
Much of the rhetoric from Rosenberg and Allen centered on the recent AFTRA primetime TV contract that is being sent to members for ratification. With more than half of AFTRA members also in the actors’ guild, the duo pushed SAG members to vote against ratification of the AFTRA deal.
Allen noted that a “no” vote for the AFTRA deal doesn’t necessarily mean a strike, but “sends AFTRA back to the table.”
The current SAG-AMPTP deal expires on June 30, and the sides are currently talking.
Among the SAG members in attendance were Marg Helgenberger, George Takei, Joely Fisher, Ed Asner, Justine Bateman, Lea Thompson and Kate Flannery.(To see a photo gallery of the event, click here.)
