SAG rejects AMPTP's offer

So, Variety got it wrong yesterday when they posted that SAG was thinking of accepting the final proposal the AMPTP put on the table.

Or maybe they put it up there on purpose? They are in bed with the AMPTP.

Anyway, the reports that it was voted 73% to reject the offer. The main sticking point was not digital media. It was the fact they the AMPTP wants the expiration of the contract to expire in 2011. Nearly a year after the other unions (WGA, AFTRA) re-do their contract in 2010.

Here is the AMPTP’s statement:

The Producers’ offer is strong and fair – and has been judged to be strong and fair by all of Hollywood’s other major Guilds and Unions. We have kept our offer on the table – and even enhanced it – despite the historically unprecedented economic crisis that has clobbered our nation and our industry. The Producers have always sought a full three-year deal with SAG, just as we negotiated with all the other Unions and Guilds, and have offered SAG a way to achieve an earlier expiration date without contributing to further labor uncertainty. We simply cannot offer SAG a better deal than the rest of the industry achieved under far better economic conditions than those now confronting our industry.

And this is SAG‘s statement:

Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors Rejects AMPTP Last, Best and Final Offer

Los Angeles, (February 21, 2009) – The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors today voted 73% to 27% to “reject the AMPTPs last, best and final offer dated February 19, 2009.”

We entered this round of negotiations sending an unmistakably clear message that we were ready to make a deal. In an effort to put the town back to work, our negotiator agreed to modify the Guild’s bargaining position to bring the Guild in line with the deals made by our sister unions.

The AMPTPs last-minute, surprise demand for a new term of agreement extending to 2012 is regressive and damaging and clearly signals the employers’ unwillingness to agree to the deal they established with other entertainment unions. The demand for a new term of agreement was not part of their final offer of June 30, 2008; it was not part of the federally mediated talks of November 2008, and should not have been inserted into the discussions when we returned to negotiations on February 17, 2009.

What management presented as a compromise is, in fact, an attempt to separate Screen Actors Guild from other industry unions.  By attempting to extend our contract expiration one year beyond the other entertainment unions, the AMPTP intends to deleverage our bargaining position from this point forward.

Screen Actors Guild’s goal is to successfully complete these negotiations and get the industry back to work as soon as possible.  The AMPTP has clearly stated their need and desire for financial certainty and industry peace.  This new proposal does the exact opposite, and will only result in constant negotiating cycles and continued labor unrest.