With the current labor contract between a major actors union and Hollywood studios set to expire Monday night, a union leader has said that a strike feared by many in the entertainment industry is not expected immediately despite fruitless negotiations.
"Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction," said Alan Rosenberg, president of the Screen Actors Guild, in a statement issued Sunday.
Rosenberg pointed out that SAG's board has not asked for, nor has it been given, authorization to call a strike by its 122,000 members.
SAG leaders earlier have said they would like to continue talks even after the June 30 deadline.
Rosenberg said Sunday that the actors union "is coming to the bargaining table every day in good faith to negotiate a fair contract for actors."
Meanwhile, Hollywood actors are reportedly deeply divided, both between the SAG and its smaller sister group American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA), and within both unions themselves.
Entertainment industry analysts said the two unions have split on offers from the major Hollywood studios and television networks.
AFTRA has sent a proposed contract to its members for a ratification vote, with results due after voting closes on July 8.
Some members of the SAG board have urged AFTRA members to vote against the contract. AFTRA has a total of 70,000 members, more than half of them also belonging to the SAG.
Officials in the Los Angeles area have been worried about the possibility of another Hollywood labor strike, following last winter's Writers Guild of America lockout that may have cost local economy as much as 2 billion dollars.
Talks for a new three-year contract between the SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents movie studios and television networks, have dragged on for many weeks without any progress.
Source:Xinhua
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