Post-Strike Clash for AMPTP and WGA

LOS ANGELES, April 23: The
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which today is continuing
its negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild for a new contract, has filed a
complaint against the Writers Guild of America with the National Labor
Relations Board.

The move comes as
Hollywood continues to recover from the 100-day WGA strike that ended in
February, coping with a shortened and challenging pilot season. Meanwhile, the
business is bracing for another possible work stoppage this summer if SAG and
the AMPTP cannot come to terms on a new contract. The current SAG contract
expires in June.

Negotiations between the
actors guild and the AMPTP have been ongoing since April 15. In an update to
members yesterday, SAG focused on the concerns of the “middle-income” actors,
who, SAG says, make an average of $52,000 a year. SAG argues that overall
compensation is decreasing, and residuals and earnings are dropping when
adjusted for inflation. SAG also argues that there are fewer employment
opportunities as a result of changes in the broadcast business model, and that
fewer reruns and the rise of reality TV have impacted the level of residuals
received by actors.

SAG is asking for
“reasonable” increases in minimums for all categories of performers and for
major roles. The union is also seeking protection and compensation for product
integration: “Actors are being forced to incorporate clumsy dialogue and action
in television series and motion pictures more and more each season. We are
seeking reasonable solutions, which include compensation and pre-approval for
performing product integration. This is not the soda can on the table anymore.
It’s scripted and is an integral part of the story and plot development.”

The AMPTP is not
commenting on the SAG negotiations at this stage. The alliance did, however,
issue a statement about its unfair labor practice charge against the WGA. The
complaint stems from a letter issued by the WGA about writers—28 in
total—who dropped their active union membership during the work stoppage.
The letter from Patric M. Verrone, the
president of WGAW, and Michael
Winship, the president of WGAE, said these writers “consciously and selfishly
decided to place their own narrow interests over the greater good.” The letter
goes on to say that these writers “must be held at arm's length by the rest of
us and judged accountable for what they are—strikebreakers whose actions
placed everything for which we fought so hard at risk. While others forfeited
paychecks to stand in unity with their fellow Guild members, many who went
financial core continued to collect salaries. Without concern for their
colleagues, they turned their backs and tossed the burden of collective action
onto the rest of us, taking jobs, reducing our leverage and damaging the Guilds
for their own advantage.” The WGA website also lists the names of the writers
in question.

The AMPTP maintains that
the 28 writers “exercised their legal right to elect financial core status
during the recently concluded WGA strike. As such, they are entitled to full
coverage under the WGA's collective bargaining agreement, including the same
wages, residuals, health and pension benefits and protections afforded to all
members. By publicly naming names and encouraging people who have the power to
hire writers to keep them "at arm's length," and saying they must be
"judged accountable" it is clear the WGA leadership is seeking to
deny employment to these writers in the future. That is a direct violation of
federal labor law, and as the employers of those writers we have a
responsibility to defend them and the rule of law in this case.”

—By Mansha Daswani