Strike Averted: SAG Ratifies Contract

Published by Jeff Leins on June 10, 2009

On Tuesday, the membership in the Screen Actors Guild voted to ratify a new two year contract with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).  About 35% of the 110,000 SAG members in good standing cast a vote in the 78% “Yes” to 22% “No” decision.

The new contract will expire in May 2011 at roughly the same time as the contracts signed by the Writers Guild (WGA) and the Directors Guild (DGA).  The three guilds hope their unification two years from now will provide extra leverage at the negotiating table for growing issues like new media.

Negotiations have been off and on for 18 months, leaving Hollywood waiting to see if discussions would deteriorate into a possible repeat of the WGA 100-day strike.  One opponent of the new contract and a vocal supporter of a strike was SAG President Alan Rosenberg, who was outvoted by the more moderate members of the governing board.  While waiting for the results of the SAG vote, Rosenberg announced he will still seek a third term.  Now it looks like he’s standing firmly in the minority of the membership.

Rosenberg admitted surprise to Variety at the level of support for the feature-primetime deal. “It may be due to fatigue, fear and the economy,” he said. “This contract will have a devastating impact.”