SAG Sets Date for Strike Vote

LOS
ANGELES, December 11: The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has plans to send out its strike
authorization ballots to more than 100,000 union members on January 2, which means
a possible strike would not affect the Golden Globes.

A potential strike could, however,
prove problematic for the Oscars. Votes will be counted on January 23, which is
ahead of the February 22 Academy Awards.

Approval by 75 percent of voting
members is required to pass the measure. If it is approved, the SAG national
board can call a strike. SAG president Alan Rosenberg has said a strike is the
last resort to force a resolution in stalled negotiations with major movie
studios, but that if necessary, it would be timed to have the most impact.

"SAG members understand that
their futures as professional actors are at stake," Rosenberg said.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers (AMPTP) countered, saying that the strike vote is poorly
timed: "It's now official: SAG members are going to be asked to bail out a
failed negotiating strategy by going on strike during one of the worst economic
crises in history," said a statement by the AMPTP.

—By Kristin Brzoznowski