Hollywood studios made a last-minute offer Monday evening to a major actors union with the current three-day labor contract between the two sides was expected to expire midnight.
The offer included benefits similar to those granted earlier to writers, directors and the industry's smaller actors union, according to a report on the Los Angeles Times website.
The entertainment industry is in a "de facto strike" with film production nearly shut down and television production threatened, said the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major Hollywood studios and television networks.
However, the trade group sent the clearest sign yet that it wouldn't lock out actors if negotiators didn't settle on a contract before the current pact expired the midnight deadline.
The AMPTP sponsored full-page advertisements in major trade publications Variety and the Hollywood Reporter Sunday, arguing that the entertainment industry had suffered enough from previous work stoppages over contract disputes.
The advertisements cited a study by the Los Angeles-base think tank Milken Institute showing that the 100-day writers strike that ended in February had put more than 37,000 people out of work and resulted in 2.3 billion dollars in lost wages.
According to Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., the writers strike cost the local economy estimated 3 billion dollars, including lost wages for writers and production workers, and reduced businesses for Hollywood-related service industry.
Meanwhile, leaders of the 120,000-member Screen Actor Guild have said they would also like to keep negotiating after the current contract expires, and had not called for a strike authorization from its members.
"Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction," SAG President Alan Rosenberg said Sunday in a statement.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article