Hollywood studios set deadline for guild to accept contract

Source: Agencies  |   2008-7-10  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE major Hollywood studios have told the Screen Actors Guild that if the union does not accept its final contract offer by August 15 any proposed wage increases would not be retroactive, the studios said yesterday.

The studio alliance threw down that gauntlet in its final offer, which it said included US$250 million in additional compensation over three years.

If the deadline passes before the union ratifies a contract, it means the actors could lose more than US$200,000 a day in increases dating to July 1, the day the new contract would take effect.

The announcement was made as the two sides appeared to be headed toward an impasse in their contract talks.

"The producers have included this traditional incentive in the final offer in order to get everyone back to work," the studio alliance said in a statement.

Norman Samnick, a lawyer who has represented the studios in talks with actors, said such a clause was not unusual when negotiations extend beyond the end of a contract.

"The companies may use that as a point of negotiation," Samnick said.

A guild spokeswoman declined to comment.

The studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, plan to meet with the guild Thursday afternoon to discuss their final offer.

On Tuesday, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a smaller actors union with 70,000 members, said it had ratified a three-year deal retroactive to July 1.

The Screen Actors Guild had campaigned hard against the AFTRA deal and claimed that if members approved it that would undermine SAG's ongoing talks.

The guild, which represents 120,000 actors in movies, TV and other media, said late Tuesday that its work at the bargaining table will continue, despite the ratification of the smaller union's deal.