"SAG announced Saturday afternoon that AFTRA had withdrawn from Phase One joint bargaining." Variety.com reports. According to the report, "The unions had been scheduled to give final approval Saturday at a joint board meeting to a contract proposal to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Had that happened, informal talks would have started over the next few days."
For the full report, click here.
As was already posted, the SAG-AFTRA contract on feature film and primetime TV expires June 30, 2008, and according to Variety.com (February 28), "Studio worries about an actors strike have resulted in execs refusing to schedule production start dates on films that can't be completed by that date."
For more information check SAG.com and AFTRA.com.
AFTRA (The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) is a national labor union representing over 70,000 performers, journalists and other artists working in the entertainment and news media.
SAG (Screen Actors Guild) is the USA largest labor union representing working actors. It represents nearly 120,000 actors who work in motion pictures, television, commercials, industrials, video games, Internet and all new media formats.