For the third time, intervention by federal mediators failed to result in any significant progress toward a settlement of the dispute between the actors’ unions and the ad industry.
The negotiating team for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) met face to face for the first time in nearly three months with representatives from the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) during a two-day session (7/20-21) in New York called by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
Initially offering a spark of optimism, the coming together of the two sides instead ultimately dashed hopes that the actors’ strike might end any time soon. At the close of their talks, each side portrayed the other as being inflexible and unwilling to compromise.
Residuals continue to be the pivotal issue of disagreement. The JPC has stuck to its proposal calling for the elimination of network "pay-per-play" residuals, an initiative, which the actors’ unions view as an unfair "rollback." Meanwhile, SAG and AFTRA want the residual system to be extended to spots shown on cable, a move that the JPC has flatly rejected.
SAG chief negotiator John McGuire said that the unions "significantly modified their key cable proposal. The advertisers refused to make any changes in their demands … The responsibility for the continuance of this strike clearly rests on their shoulders."
The JPC acknowledged that the unions reduced their basic wage rate increase from 14 to 12 percent. But that decrease, according to the JPC, was to bring the percentage on par with the unions’ interim agreements, which enable companies to work with SAG and AFTRA performers during the strike. As earlier reported, the discrepancy between terms of the interim agreement and the previous offer put on the table by the unions was the linchpin of a JPC lawsuit which accused SAG and AFTRA of unfair labor practices (SHOOT, 5/12, p. 1). The unions subsequently filed a counterclaim with the National Labor Relations Board against the ad industry.
At the close of the New York session, the unions accused the JPC of "union busting" and having no real interest in helping to bring about a settlement. No further meetings are scheduled, but federal mediators reserve the right to reconvene the two sides. The actors’ strike began on May 1.
While talks have come to a halt, other action figures to escalate, including union picketing of spot shoots using non-union actors. There has also been an effort to get key cities to consider placing a ban on the filming of these commercials.
Such a proposed ban appears to have fallen by the wayside in Los Angeles (SHOOT, 7/14/00), and has been tabled-at least for the moment-in Chicago. However, at press time, New York City Council Speaker Peter Vallone was scheduled to introduce a resolution this week (7/27) asking that the city not issue film permits for spots that are being struck against by the actors’ unions. Vallone’s proposal is also expected to include a provision advocating advance public disclosure of information about city spot shoots on a more regular basis. This info would enable the actors’ unions to better organize picketing of these shoots in New York. As in the case of Chicago and Los Angeles, a grass-roots ad industry lobbying campaign-in the form of letter writing and e-mails to New York City Council members-has been launched in opposition to the resolution.
