On April 10, SAG President Alan Rosenberg sent a memo to Guild members regarding the "priorities" of the talks that began today, Tuesday April 15. In it, he stated that the Wages & Working conditions meetings held throughout the country during the early months of this year had narrowed the Guild's focus for negotiations. The National Wages & Working Committee then met in March and endorsed the proposal package, which was then sent on and approved by the National Board of Directors. 

He then spoke of the growing problem of the "demise of middle class actors." According to Rosenberg, "Favored nations salaries for guest stars and featured actors are now the norm and most actors can't get the quotes (individual salary) that they could a year ago." He went on to say that it's a "take it or leave it" world today, and because of the current situation, many actors may be forced to leave it. 

Thus, his goal for the Guild's negotiations with the AMPTP is to negotiate fair payments for all of those pesky new media outlets that threw the wrench in the WGA-AMPTP negotiations last fall. If successful, this will guarantee more opportunities for middle class actors in the various media platforms. 

Click here for a more detailed breakdown of the Guild's negotiation priorities regarding new media. 

If you remember my earlier posts on this topic, you will recall that AFTRA and SAG split last month after AFTRA accused SAG of trying to convince the cast of "The Bold and the Beautiful" to leave the federation. In response, Rosenberg called the split a "calculated" and "cynical" excuse by the federation to bring and end to the partnership they had long wanted to sever.

On April 13, two days before the talks were to begin, SAG's Board of Directors resolved to extend an olive branch to AFTRA, saying, "...that AFTRA be given the opportunity to join Screen Actors Guild in Phase I joint negotiations, provided that notice of acceptance is received within 72 hours." According to Nikki Finke, this was approved by 81.37% of the Board and was communicated to AFTRA.

However, AFTRA responded with a letter to SAG that stated that the Guild would not rethink the decision that resulted in the severing of the longtime relationship between the two guilds. In the letter, AFTRA national executive director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, claimed that it did not appear that any of the issues that led to the severance had been resolved, and that the response window of 72 hours was a "pragmatically impossible deadline." 

This morning, SAG (sans AFTRA) began negotiations with AMPTP. AFTRA will have two observers in the negotiating room, which is standard for unions bargaining with the same employers. For example, SAG sat in on the rocky negotiations between WGA and AMPTP and will also be present at the negotiations between AFTRA and AMPTP later this month. 

Like the Writers Guild, SAG brings to the table a large package of proposals regarding new media and that pesky DVD formula. The trouble here is that AFTRA, after abandoning SAG for Phase I late last month, scheduled their own talks with AMPTP to begin in just two weeks. This means that SAG has two weeks to try and make a deal before the smaller and more flexible AFTRA swoops in. 

What do you think will happen? Will the actors strike to avoid a bad deal, or will they take the best they can get in the next two weeks and get out of AFTRA's way? Looking at the three parties involved and the calendar of talk dates, it seems to me that SAG is S.O.L. The producers know that SAG is under pressure from the federation and will most likely use this to their advantage, but will also be trying to give up the minimum amount necessary to stave off another strike. Meanwhile, AFTRA, much smaller than SAG, will most likely be much more accommodating at the negotiating table and will probably end up with a better deal faster. 

SAG board member Esai Morales has been quoted as saying, "Unions are the only way to keep our dignity.... But we will not be forced into a position where we have to take less and less. We will not be the bad guy on this," he added, "Let it be on them to give us what we deserve."