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Tag Archives | labor disputes

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- SEIU-UHW picketers demonstrated in front of Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank June 19, 2012

Labor trouble at Burbank hospital

By on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

A noisy picket line on West Alameda Avenue in front of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank yesterday drew stares from many and horn blasts of support from some motorists. The demonstrators marched, blew whistles, and waved picket signs for several hours. Paul Matakiewicz, chief negotiator for SEIU-UHW, says 80 members took part in the demonstration, which he characterized as an informational picket line. Matakiewicz says these employees are service and tech professionals and they have been working without a contract for nine months.  He says the two sides... Read More →

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Screen Actors Guild overwhelmingly approves new contract

By on Wednesday, June 10, 2009

It’s been a long time coming, but finally the 100,000 plus members of the Screen Actors Guild have a new contract today. The votes were counted last night on a new two-year deal with the big studio producers, which covers, “…film and digital television programs, motion pictures and new media productions,” according to an announcement on the SAG website. Around 110,000 ballots went out to SAG members — and about 35 percent were returned. In the final tally, an overwhelming 78 percent voted in favor and only 22 percent against. This contract kicks in immediately.... Read More →

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Screen Actors Guild tentative contract ballots set to go out

By on Saturday, May 9, 2009

Thousands of members of the Screen Actors Guild will soon get to vote on that tentative contract deal with the big studio producers. The ballots to eligible guild members will be mailed out later this month on Tuesday, May 19, according to a message posted on the SAG website by Interim National Executive Director, David White, and SAG Chief Negotiator, John McGuire. The old contract expired on June 30, 2008. After months of bickering between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a tentative... Read More →

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Preparations underway for SAG membership vote on tentative deal

By on Monday, April 20, 2009

After months of on again /off again talks and tons of haggling and sniping, the members of the Screen Actors Guild will soon get the opportunity to vote on a contract deal. Yesterday, the Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors approved a tentative agreement with the Big Studio producers by a narrow 53 to 47 vote. SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers jointly announced the tentative deal on Friday, but details were not released until yesterday. The two-year contract expires in June of 2011, keeping SAG in sync with the WGA,... Read More →

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A tentative agreement in the Screen Actors Guild labor dispute

By on Friday, April 17, 2009

 Hollywood is buzzing over the tentative agreement announced today by the Screen Actors Guild and the big studios. After almost 10-months of fighting over contract issues and tons of behind the scenes drama at SAG, there’s now a two-year deal, however, some hurdles still remain to be cleared before it’s a done deal. Both the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have announcements about the agreement up on their websites. Neither is offering details of the pact until it can be reviewed by... Read More →

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Screen Actors Guild rejects producers’ last, best and final offer

By on Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Hollywood is once again facing a real life cliffhanger now that the Screen Actors Guild has turned down the producers’ so-called last, best and final offer. Remember a few weeks ago, the hard line negotiator in SAG  was tossed out by moderates who felt they could better work a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Well, what the moderates got was a tough lesson in how the game of negotiations is played by the producers.       In a statement on its website, the Screen Actors Guild admitted... Read More →

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SAG and AMPTP talks back on again

By on Wednesday, February 11, 2009

      The Screen Actors Guild and the representatives from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are heading back to the bargaining table, according to a joint statement that appeared on the SAG website yesterday. The brief statement is below.  “Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have agreed to meet on February 17 and 18, at the AMPTP offices in Sherman Oaks, California. We will have no further comment about the meeting.” The contract talks were scheduled to re-boot  a week ago,... Read More →

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SAG and big studio representatives to meet next week

By on Thursday, January 29, 2009

Representatives for the big Hollywood studios and the Screen Actors Guild announced jointly tonight that they will meet face to face next week. The statement below appears on both the SAG and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers websites.  Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will meet February 3 and 4, at the AMPTP offices in Sherman Oaks, Calif. We will have no further comment about the meeting. 

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Screen Actors Guild drama continues

By on Wednesday, January 28, 2009

More drama today for Hollywood’s largest actors union. The President of the Screen Actors Guild, Alan Rosenberg, sent out an e-mail to the membership late yesterday blasting the National Board of Directors for its firing of Doug Allen on Monday. Allen, the union’s National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, was ousted by the Guild’s National Board of Directors on Monday. Rosenberg praised Allen’s work for the union: “Doug gave us the courage to accept the fact that we had a legal right to pursue an agreement that addressed the... Read More →

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Big shake-up in the Screen Actors Guild

By on Tuesday, January 27, 2009

For weeks now the rumors have been flying about the ouster of the National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of the Screen Actors Guild, Doug Allen. Despite all the denials, there was something in these rumors that suggested Allen’s days were numbered. And so it is, Allen is no longer working for SAG today, after being given his walking papers by the Guild’s National Board of Directors yesterday. Before I go on, a reminder of the really bad timing of this action. SAG is in the middle of bitter contract negotiations with the big studios... Read More →

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SAG delays strike authorization vote

By on Monday, December 22, 2008

In a new development late today, the Screen Actors Guild put the brakes on a plan to send out strike authorization ballots to its membership on January 2, 2009. SAG’s National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Doug Allen, announced the change in a message to the 122,000 members posted on the guild’s website. Allen says the much publicized No SAG Strike petition drive has prompted the need for a face-to-face meeting of the national board in Los Angeles during the week of January 12. Allen admits there’s growing concern in the guild... Read More →

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SAG strike vote battle goes on

By on Monday, December 22, 2008

Despite the demands of the holiday season, the battle over the Screen Actors Guild’s upcoming strike authorization vote is picking up steam. Yesterday, an article on the Variety website touted the addition of more celebrities to the No SAG Strike petition; among the new signers George Lopez, Susan Sarandon, and Charlie Sheen. That petition drive kicked off three weeks ago and has accumulated 1,373 signatures as of Sunday. Meanwhile, over on the SAG website the number of actors who have signed the Statement of Support for a yes vote... Read More →

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SAG Award nominees and the strike vote debate

By on Friday, December 19, 2008

Heath Ledger as the Joker gets SAG nomination. A lot of squabbling and bickering in the Screen Actors Guild this week over the upcoming strike authorization vote. The ballots are set to go out on January 2, 2009. Yesterday, for a while the debate over that vote was put aside to announce the nominees for the 15th Annual SAG Awards. The film about a face off between a Catholic old-school nun and a progressive priest, “Doubt” earned five nominations. “Milk” the story of San Francisco politician/gay activist Harvey Milk and... Read More →

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The producers react to SAG’s strike authorization vote

By on Thursday, December 11, 2008

  The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers wasted no time in creating a response to yesterday’s announcement of a strike authorization vote by the Screen Actors Guild. On its website the AMPTP, the representative for the big studios, slammed SAG’s leadership for the breakdown in the contract talks. The AMPTP warned the actors that, “… no strike can solve the problems that have been created by SAG’s own failed negotiation strategy. ” Along with a brief statement condemning the prospects of a strike, the AMPTP site includes a download of... Read More →

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Screen Actors Guild moves closer to a strike vote

By on Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Screen Actors Guild is gearing up for a strike authorization vote. Today on its website, SAG announced the ballots for that vote will be going out to the membership on January 2, 2009. This is a serious step in the direction of another crippling labor strike in the entertainment industry. On Monday, SAG leaders reportedly got a lot of positive feedback to their negotiation strategy from several hundred union members at a town hall meeting held at the Harmony Gold Theatre in Los Angeles. Two more town hall meetings are... Read More →

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SAG contract update

By on Tuesday, July 1, 2008

A Screen Actors Guild member gets vocal in support of striking WGA writers while picketing in front of Disney Studios in Burbank, last February. No, SAG members did not hit the bricks when their union contract expired at 12:01 a.m. this morning. Nevertheless, the labor stand-off between SAG negotiators and the AMPTP continues and that has a lot of people worried. According to a June 30 press release posted on SAG’s website, the producers whipped out a 42-page last-minute offer before midnight. The union asked for and got... Read More →

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SAG contract expires tonight at 12:01 a.m.

By on Monday, June 30, 2008

The Screen Actors Guild and the Studio reps are really under the gun now, with the SAG union contract set to expire in a matter of hours. After a weekend of bargaining, both sides reportedly returned to the negotiating table for another round this morning at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks. This is the 42nd day of negotiations, which started back in mid-April. On the SAG website today instructions were given to the rank and file. “All members should continue to report to work and to audition for... Read More →

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