SAG Close to Deal

According to a news article on the L.A. Times the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is finally close to negotiating a new three-year contract with Hollywood Producers, the AMPTP, after weeks of intense dialogue.

SAG members have been working without contracts for the past nine months, when their last contact lapsed, and a new one could not be agreed upon by either side.

SAG's interim executive director David White was voted in during a union election late last year, and since then has been meeting one-on-one with the studios to help facilitate a deal.

SAG chief negotiator John McGuire, who just negotiated a new commercials contract for SAG members, is expected to present the outlines of an agreement to the guild's negotiating task force Tuesday, which could set the stage for the return of formal negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the studios but is dominated by heads of the major media companies.

The union's national board could vote on a final contract when it meets April 18.

White and McGuire are under heavy pressure to deliver a contract to the union's 120,000 members. They were recently installed by a moderate majority on the union's board that accused former leaders of mishandling negotiations and pushing SAG toward the brink of a strike.