SAG-AMPTP negotiations: How much longer will they go on?

Hollywood conglomerates broke their silence on Thursday to release a statement expressing frustration and discouragement that they have yet to reach a new deal with the Screen Actors Guild after 28 days at the negotiation table. “SAG’s Hollywood leadership is already saying that it’s unlikely a deal will be made by June 30th,” read the statement released by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, in reference to the current contract expiration date. “We hope that this statement does not signal the intention of SAG’s Hollywood leaders to bring our industry to a halt.”

The AMPTP blamed “side shows” like SAG’s rally on Monday in Los Angeles for causing distractions to the negotiation process. At that event, more than 300 people gathered in front of SAG’s headquarters to urge members of its fellow actors union, AFTRA, to reject a deal that its leaders recently made with the major studios. SAG’s honchos worry that AFTRA’s deal, if ratified by its 70,000-plus members, will hurt its own efforts to get something even better. SAG president Alan Rosenberg told EW.com that his union’s members could conceivably work after the June 30 deadline and that the prolonged talks don’t mean that SAG wants to strike. He said he was “optimistic” about the talks.

SAG released this statement late Thursday: “SAG’s negotiating committee has made significant moves in the AMPTP’s direction on a number of proposals. The limited progress the AMPTP referred to in its recent statement is largely because management has not made an equally dedicated effort to achieving progress. Negotiations are about give and take and thus far it has primarily been SAG’s negotiating committee ‘giving.’”