More than 130 of Hollywood s best known movie stars have written to leaders of the entertainment industry s biggest actors union to urge against calling a strike, it was reported Tuesday.
In a letter sent to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) board widely cited in media reports, a galaxy of A-listers including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman and Tom Hanks called on the union not to authorize a walkout.
SAG leaders announced last week they would hold a ballot of the union s 120,000 members on Jan. 2 to obtain authorization required to call a strike following failed negotiations with Hollywood studios.
Although union leaders have said they want to avoid a stoppage, they say a vote giving them authorization to call a strike will give them greater leverage at the bargaining table.
But the prospect of a strike as America slides into a recession has caused deep divisions within the union, with Monday s letter from acting heavyweights the latest evidence of dissent within the SAG ranks.
We feel very strongly that SAG members should not vote to authorize a strike at this time, the letter read.
We support our union and we support the issues we re fighting for, but we do not believe in all good conscience that now is the time to be putting people out of work.
Any strike would plunge the entertainment industry into chaos, and could threaten award shows such as the Oscars, which take place on Feb. 22.
Last year a 100-day walkout by screenwriters created havoc and up to $2 billion in losses according to some estimates.
The actors union has been in a standoff with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) since a previous contract expired in June.
Fresh attempts to broker a deal foundered in November.
The actors union is holding out for a greater share of royalties from sales and showings of work screened on the internet.
The AMPTP say the actors demands are unreasonable and have refused to improve a final offer made in June, similar to other agreements reached with writers, directors and a smaller actor s union.
For the Jan. 2 strike authorization ballot to be successful, 75 percent of those voting would have to give approval to the measure.
SAG President Alan Rosenberg was quoted by entertainment industry journal Daily Variety on Tuesday that failure to authorize strike action would deal a fatal blow to hopes of securing a new deal.
If these employers know we can t get a strike authorization, they ll just roll over us, he told Variety.
But achieving the 75 percent margin necessary to authorize a stoppage may prove difficult given the deep divisions within the union.
At a stormy meeting of SAG members in New York on Monday, veteran actor Alec Baldwin called on union negotiators to quit, according to Variety.
Nothing against them personally but they have failed as negotiators and they should step down, Baldwin said. -AFP
