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StrikeNews 10/09/2000

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Monday October 9 8:00 PM ET Striking Actors, U.S. Ad Industry to Resume Talks LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The two sides in the five-month-old actors strike against advertisers have agreed to return to the bargaining table next Thursday, three weeks after their last round of talks collapsed, the Screen Actors Guild said on Monday. At the behest of federal mediators, negotiators for SAG and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists will meet again with their counterparts from the ad industry in New York City in the latest bid to settle the longest talent strike in Hollywood history. SAG spokesman Greg Krizman said both sides, contacted by mediators over the weekend, plan to bring their full negotiating teams back to the talks. Officials from the industry, represented by the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers, could not be reached for comment. The last round of contract talks collapsed Sept. 27 after 10 straight days of intense bargaining, dashing hopes that an agreement was finally at hand. The unions also rejected the mediators’ proposal for a 90-day “cooling off” period, during which talks would continue while actors returned to work. Two days of negotiations in July dissolved with little or no progress made toward a settlement. SAG and AFTRA, which together represent 135,000 actors, went on strike May 1 in a dispute that centered on residual payments earned by performers for television commercials. Although the last round of talks ended in discord, the two sides appeared to have narrowed their differences. The ad industry backed off its demand to do away with the ”pay-for-play” residuals earned by actors for network television ads, by which performers are paid according to how often their commercials are broadcast. The industry had sought to replace network residuals with a flat-fee “buyout” system similar to the existing pay structure for cable TV ads, a proposal the unions regarded as a deal-killing rollback. The actors, for their part, have dropped a demand for expanding network-style residuals to cable ads, a move the industry vehemently opposed. Advertisers, however, have rejected a union proposal for a new, three-tier system of buyout payments. The two sides also remain at odds over compensation for ads made exclusively for the Internet. Seeking to step up pressure on the industry, the unions planned to launch a consumer boycott of Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG) at the company’s annual shareholders meeting Tuesday. The unions have singled out P&G because of its use of non-union talent to make commercials during the strike and its perceived influence over the industry as one of the nation’s largest advertisers. Updated: 10/8/00 ADVERTISERS, SAG SET TO RESTART TALKS Protests skedded as ‘Net, cable residuals cause chasm By DAVE MCNARY (Variety) Striking union actors and advertisers will return to the bargaining table Oct. 19 to attempt to resolve the acrimonious work stoppage, now entering its 24th week. Negotiators for both sides agreed over the weekend to resume talks in Gotham, following recent promises by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists to intensify protests against the ad industry. The decision to resume bargaining came less than two weeks after the unions and advertisers nearly reached a settlement after 10 straight days of talks. Those negotiations collapsed over two key issues — rates paid for cable ads and the unions’ insistence that a new pact include jurisdiction over ads airing on the Internet. Strike leaders were angered over the refusal of advertisers to compromise on the Internet after the unions gave up on their demand for cable residuals. Advertisers pointed to pulling off their long-standing demand for elimination of network TV residuals. "I am cautiously optimistic because of what the advertisers pulled in the last set of negotiations," said strike coordinator Gordon Drake. "We moved mountains and they took baby steps." Announcement of the new talks came at a raucous SAG/AFTRA meeting at the Los Angeles Convention Center with an estimated 800 in attendance. SAG prexy William Daniels told the crowd that he had prepared a speech but would address the assemblage instead "from my heart." "They are trying to break our union and they’re not going to," Daniels declared to wild cheering. SAG member Jack Logan, who attended the event, said, "For the people who were there, you could tell that they were absolutely backing the leadership 150% on this. Now is not the time to let up." The new round of talks will be the fourth since the unions struck on May 1 after voting to go on strike two weeks earlier. Federal mediators failed in attempts in June and July to re-start negotiations but both sides met for a total of 13 days between Sept. 13 and 27. Union leaders also announced at the event they would begin protests against Ford Motor Co., which had earlier pledged it would not shoot ads with non-union actors until the strike was over. Ford broke that promise recently by shooting spots in Canada, according to the unions. The union actors also have planned a trio of protests for Tuesday aimed at consumer products giant Procter & Gamble. At P&G’s annual shareholders meeting in Cincinnati, strike leaders will announce the specific products to be boycotted by the 135,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists along with the 13.2 million AFL-CIO members. Rallies are also set for Los Angeles and at Gotham’s Bryant Park with Richard Dreyfuss, Tim Robbins, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon and AFL-CIO prexy John Sweeney expected to speak. Several hundred activists, many coming from Los Angeles and New York, plan to picket outside the shareholders meeting at P&G headquarters. Dozens of those will attend the meeting, either as shareholders or by proxy, and plan to speak during the question-and-answer period. "I will ask the board if they really want to use scab actors when their stock price is in such a rut," said Los Angeles strike captain Robert Amico, who noted that P&G shares are off 36% from their high this year. "If their ads aren’t performed well, people aren’t going to buy their products." Strike leaders expect several high-profile members such as Harry Belafonte to speak at the meeting. P&G, with over 300 brands including Tide, Pampers, Ivory soap and Pringles, has been targeted for a boycott by SAG and AFTRA due to its use of non-union actors and its perceived influence as a hard-liner in the failed negotiations between the actors and advertisers. Talks collapsed Sept. 27, and no new meetings are scheduled. For its part, P&G has responded by portraying the union negotiators as greedy and inflexible. It has claimed the actors are being offered a pay hike of nearly 7%, although the unions maintain that the ad industry’s proposal represents a 4.4% gain compared to SAG/AFTRA’s 7.4% offer. P&G has also postponed a tribute to Dick Wilson, the actor who portrayed Mr. Whipple for P&G’s Charmin, following Wilson’s voicing of support for the strike (Daily Variety, Oct. 4). A Boycott of Procter & Gamble Is Planned by A.F.L.-C.I.O. By BARBARA WHITAKER (New York Times) LOS ANGELES, Oct. 9

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