This past Sunday (4/16), the joint Eastern boards of directors of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) voted unanimously to launch a strike, beginning May 1, against the advertising industry. At press time, the Western boards of SAG and AFTRA were about to meet. It’s expected that they will follow suit.
The boards convened after talks between the unions and the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) broke off on Friday (4/14). As previously reported, SAG and AFTRA members voted overwhelmingly to give union leadership the authority to call a strike. The union boards have decided to hold off until May 1 to prepare for what many consider could be a lengthy strike.
At the same time, the May 1 start date gives the industry an opportunity to push through additional jobs prior to the deadline. There’s also the chance of talks resuming during the interim, but that prospect was described as "highly doubtful" by attorney John McGuinn, the JPC’s chief negotiator, who noted that there’s a great divide between the two sides on several key issues, most notably residuals.11
As earlier delineated (SHOOT, 4/7, p. 1) the JPC has proposed rescinding the pay-per-play residuals formula for broadcast network television, and replacing it with a flat fee structure. By sharp contrast, the unions want to retain the pay-per-play system and extend it to spots run on cable television. The JPC is adamantly opposed to that proposal, claiming that moving from a flat fee cycle to residuals for cable would produce a 350 percent increase in current payments to actors. If SAG and AFTRA would agree to a flat fee for broadcast network performances, the ad industry has offered to increase current cable usage rates by some 60 percent, according to a JPC summary of its last written offer to the unions, dated April 14.
Another hotly contested area is compensation for spots on the Internet (SHOOT, 4/7, p. 1). The unions have presented a formula for recompense based on hits and click-throughs. The JPC has countered with a suggested payment of two session fees for broadcast commercials that appear on the Web. McGuinn told SHOOT that his bargaining authority is limited to radio and TV spots, meaning that he isn’t able to negotiate provisions regarding commercials that are created specifically to run on the Internet.
The JPC has reiterated that in case of a strike, commercial production will continue—either with nonunion actors or willing union talent—in the U.S. or in foreign countries. The Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) supports that stance.
However, SAG and AFTRA contend that there are many actors outside the U.S. who will be supportive of a union strike action. For example, Thor Bishopric, president of The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) wrote SAG and AFTRA that "in the event that negotiations break down … ACTRA will instruct its 15,000 members in Canada to not accept SAG and AFTRA-struck work." Even with that directive, it remains an individual decision for foreign performers whether or not to work on U.S. spots. Additionally, nonunion talent outside the U.S. could also be accessed.
The ad industry is also prepared to cast nonunion domestic talent. The JPC noted that there’s an extensive pool of nonunion talent in the U.S.—a resource that’s developed significantly since ’88, when the actors’ unions struck against the ad industry for a three-week period.
On March 9, the AICP sent a letter to commercial casting and talent agents nationwide, saying that producers expect them to provide capable actors in the event of a strike (SHOOT, 3/17, p. 1). The letter stated that if a strike comes to pass, "AICP production companies fully expect to continue working with you to fulfill casting requirements. It is the intention of our member companies to move forward with their production commitments and continue to provide their clients with the highest quality production possible. We anticipate that production companies will be able to meet the needs of advertisers here in the United States. In the unlikely event that production companies fail to meet the needs here, then we can be certain that they will look to foreign markets. In that case, the entire American production industry loses."
If the U.S. casting industry cannot provide ample, viable nonunion talent options domestically, a strike could prompt increased levels of filming in foreign countries. Several production companies have said that they’ve already seen a jump in the number of jobs with specs calling for lensing outside the U.S., specifically in anticipation of a strike (see Production Companies’ Special Report story on foreign spot shoot considerations, p. 17).
The situation is ironic in that SAG has been staunchly opposed to filming leaving the U.S. for foreign destinations. Last year, SAG and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) co-sponsored an independent study documenting the impact of runaway business on the American economy (SHOOT, 7/9/99, p. 1). SAG has also hired a Washington, D.C. lobbyist to develop and drum up support for legislative solutions to the runaway problem. And numerous industry groups—including SAG, DGA and the AICP—are members of the National Entertainment Coalition, an organization formed to work closely with legislators on anti-runaway measures (SHOOT, 1/28, p. 1).
Even federal mediation couldn’t prevent the talks between the actors’ unions and the JPC from breaking off. Last Thursday (4/13), federal mediators were called in to help in the negotiations. Typically, federal mediation is a sign that talks are approaching a stalemate. Mediators from the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service met separately with union and management representatives in an attempt to stimulate productive negotiations, then had follow-up meetings with the two sides.
Listening to the concerns and contentions of the parties, mediators also often pose what-if scenarios as a means of bringing the sides closer together. Mediators can suggest courses of action, but have no binding authority over the unions, management or the negotiations themselves. McGuinn conjectured that federal mediation "could re-enter the picture at some point."
