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Actors support AFTRA deal as contract deadline approaches

25.06.2008 18:01 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

With their official contract expiration date approaching next week, Tom Hanks and other U.S. actors have thrown their support behind a tentative deal struck by the smaller of two Hollywood performers unions.

Hanks, James Cromwell and former Screen Actors Guild president Richard Masur are among those who have signed an online petition urging members to support the deal reached in late May by Hollywood studios and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

The Screen Actors Guild, the larger of the two unions representing Hollywood performers, is still negotiating with the studios and has urged its membership to vote against the AFTRA deal.

The current actors' contracts, covering prime-time programming and film productions, are set to expire Monday.

The Screen Actors Guild represents about 120,000 members, while AFTRA represents about 70,000 members. Approximately 44,000 performers are members of both unions.

Veteran actor Cromwell, a former SAG board member, said he felt the guild is pressing for demands that could not be met.

"You bargain as hard as you can. But when you make promises, you can't keep and then you hold this town hostage by your belligerence and intransigence to the realities of the industry … it ain't gonna fly," Cromwell said.

"Let's get what we can get."

Many in the community want to prevent another major stoppage like the one that occurred over the holiday season during the 100-day Hollywood writers strike.

With files from the Associated Press

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