Hollywood actors, studios head for labor limbo

Source: Agencies  |   2008-7-1  |     ONLINE EDITION

HOLLYWOOD actors and studios held a final day of labor talks yesterday before their contract was due to expire, but the midnight deadline was expected to pass with neither a settlement nor a strike.

Barring a last-minute breakthrough, the two sides are headed for a new realm of uncertainty as of 12:01 am today, when the contract covering movie and prime-time television work for 120,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild runs out.

The labor talks, which began in April, have hit some of the same stumbling blocks that led Hollywood writers to walk off the job months ago, including clashes over how union talent should be paid for work created for the Internet.

Both sides have accused the other of foot-dragging.

"It's pretty astounding that people don't seem to know what's going to happen, and I've spoken to some of the negotiators," said Hillary Bibicoff, a partner with Los Angeles law firm Greenberg Glusker.

Film production by major studios has ground to a near halt in anticipation of a possible work stoppage, though SAG leaders have downplayed the likelihood of a walkout, which would require a 75 percent vote by SAG members and take weeks to organize.

"We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote," SAG President Alan Rosenberg said in a statement on Sunday. "Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction."

SAG also has signed special waivers with over 300 independent producers allowing actors to continue working for those companies in the event of a strike. Production on many TV shows has plowed ahead as well.

A HOLLYWOOD LABOR CLIFFHANGER

Monday's editions of Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter carried full-page studio ads saying a strike would be "harmful and unnecessary," citing $2.3 billion in lost wages from the 14-week writers' strike that ended in February.