Actors unions butt heads over negotiations

By Leslie Simmons

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The bad blood between Hollywood's two major actors' unions reached Hatfield and McCoy levels during the weekend just as they prepare to negotiate new labor contracts for their members.

Saturday's stunning decision by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) to negotiate its own deal with the studios rather than in partnership with the bigger and more-confrontational Screen Actors Guild (SAG) raises the question of which union will sit down first for formal talks.

The unions' TV-theatrical contract, which they have jointly negotiated for 27 years, expires on June 30. The studios, slowly recovering from the 100-day writers' strike, are fearful of another walkout and are delaying work on projects that could be interrupted in the summer.

The union that does not negotiate a new contract first with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) could find itself facing a bigger battle, depending on whether its proposals are greatly different than what was agreed upon by the other union.

AFTRA, whose contract covers 44,000 members of both unions, has been pushing for early talks all along, so it would come as no surprise if it were first to the table.

Both unions said Sunday that they would be getting in touch with the AMPTP within the next few days.

"Informal discussions are happening and we expect to set a timeline soon," AFTRA president Roberta Reardon said.

SAG executive director and chief negotiator Doug Allen said the union plans to call the AMPTP Monday.

"We've discussed it informally with them," Allen said. "This is what we were waiting for to get started on bargaining: To get this process finished and for the input of the members who were all participating."

The AMPTP issued a statement Saturday saying it was pleased that AFTRA is ready to start formal talks and is determined to "work hard and bargain reasonably" to avoid another harmful strike in the industry. The statement made no mention of SAG. (Hollywood writers walked out for 100 days last year.)

Both unions, however, probably will wait until after the April 7 start of talks between AMPTP and the Intl. Assn. of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), which represents blue-collar studio workers.

AFTRA's eleventh-hour decision to suspend its joint bargaining agreement with SAG, known as Phase One, came as both actors unions were set to vote on a proposal package their members had been working on since February. Terms of the package have not been disclosed.

Just last Tuesday and Wednesday, members of both unions' "wages and working conditions" committees met to put finishing touches on the package. Word out of those meetings was that both worked amicably side by side.

But even that characterization had Allen and Reardon disagreeing. SAG's Allen described the meetings as "energetic" and "exciting." AFTRA's Reardon said there had been "tensions" and "disagreements."

The straw that broke the camel's back Saturday, Reardon said, was the anticipated decision by the cast of the daytime soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" to circulate a petition seeking to annul AFTRA's representation of the show's actors.