Many people have been wondering why the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) refused to accept the new contract offered by producers, especially after the deal was sweetened with an additional incentive number in the millions of dollars ($250 million). SAG leadership and its 120,000 members have been mum on the issue until now.
On Thursday (July 17) those same members gave the union’s executive director, Doug Allen, permission to make their case publically known so that their side of the issue could be understood. In a letter from Allen each reason for rejecting the new contract was laid out in specific terms.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for actors was their claim that the new 3-year deal would open the door to allowing nonunion actors to participate in almost all new media productions for the foreseeable future,” and remove residual fees paid for material made for or re-shown on the Net.
“A program originally made for ABC.com could be available for re-viewing on ABC.com … as often as possible and forever with no residuals,” Allen wrote. “The stakes are too high to concede.”
There was no acceptable deal in place for online material under the old contract and what the producers were offering in the new was unacceptable.
“Not a single one of these rights exists under the contract that expired on June 30 — a contract that SAG members now must work under because of the failure of SAG negotiators to make a deal,” the alliance said in a statement.
The AMPTP said that their “final contract offer” to the actors was very similar to the one given to the writers and the other actor’s union (AFTRA), both of which were finally agreed to by the unions, and can’t understand why SAG members object so strongly to it.
SAG is sticking to its guns at this time saying that their fellow actors in AFTRA signed a bad pact and they think a better contract can be negotiated over time.
So SAG leadership is smarter than AFTRA, the SWG and the DGA combined? The other unions found the AMPTP’s terms, if not desirable, workable. SAG seems to want something perfect, from the leaderships political point of view. Not only can’t I see how they get their goals with or without a strike. How can they continue pushing the way they have without hurting their working relationships with the other guild and trade unions in Hollywood?
Doug, don’t you see what was offered?
“One of the biggest stumbling blocks for actors was their claim that the new 3-year deal would open the door to allowing nonunion actors to participate in almost all new media productions for the foreseeable future,†and remove residual fees paid for material made for or re-shown on the Net”
If you were aware of the direction of technology then you can see the big loophole this presents. Streaming video from the internet including Netflix and other sites directly to TV through PS3 and other devices will produce no revenue, while studios and retailers reap profits. It doesn’t seem fair.