Averting a Strike

Sixty-two percent of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists’ (AFTRA) 70,000 members voted yesterday to ratify the union’s new contract – effectively throwing a wet blanket on the Screen Actors Guild’s (SAG) campaign to have its sister union veto its deal only to then unite in pressuring the AMPTP for better terms.

“We appreciate today’s vote of confidence by actors in the agreement we reached with AFTRA,” said the AMPTP, “and hope that it demonstrates to SAG’s leadership that there is support for the new economic relationships we have built with writers, directors, and actors – and not much support for [another] strike, whether de facto or real.”

Given AFTRA’s ratification of its deal and the significant membership overlap between both guilds, SAG wouldn’t be able to secure the 75 percent vote needed to authorize a strike.

(Insert sigh of relief here. My Pushing Daisies and my other stories may not be endangered anymore!)

SAG will meet with the AMPTP tomorrow to go over the “final offer” currently on the table.

Photo: DoobyBrain.com.