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No walkout plans yet: actors union boss

01.07.2008 00:03 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

Actor George Clooney, seen here in 2007, issued a plea to the two actors unions, SAG and AFTRA, to stop fighting and unite. (Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

The head of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in the U.S. sought to calm fears in Hollywood of a walkout by performers, by stating his union had no immediate plans to strike against the studios even though SAG's contract is set to expire late Monday.

"We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction," said SAG president Alan Rosenberg in a statement released on Sunday.

Rosenberg says talks are continuing between his union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Many movie production companies had already planned to complete filming on existing projects by Monday. And television studios have been busily stockpiling material in case of a strike.

The saga of the SAG talks has cast a dark shadow in the entertainment world with a major spat between it and its smaller sister union, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), which boasts 70,000 members compared to SAG's 120,000.

AFTRA approved a deal in late May with studios, which still needs ratification by its members.

SAG's leaders say the agreement undermines their own negotiating position and are now lobbying 44,000 guild members who also belong to AFTRA, to reject the agreement.

It has resulted in major movie stars throwing their support behind either one or the other competing unions and causing a rift in the acting community.

It prompted A-list star George Clooney to plead this week, "Rather than pitting artist against artist, maybe we could find a way to get what both unions are looking for."

SAG wants higher pay for "middle-tier" actors, artists earning less than $100,000 US a year, while also seeking a bigger portion of profits from sales of DVDs and better residuals for material posted on the internet.

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