Associated Press
Wednesday, July 9, 2008

LOS ANGELES, July 8 -- The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said Tuesday its members ratified a three-year contract with Hollywood studios, but the Screen Actors Guild, which campaigned against the deal, said it wasn't ready to settle, claiming that the AFTRA deal would undermine its own ongoing talks.

AFTRA said 62 percent of voting members approved its prime-time TV contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a deal that will go in effect retroactive to July 1.

Federation President Roberta Reardon blamed the larger Screen Actors Guild for confusing its members with an "unprecedented disinformation campaign" that jeopardized the deal.

SAG leaders "must be held accountable for this ridiculous waste of members' dues money, including my own, in attacking another union's contract," Reardon said. "In the face of that kind of attack, the percentage we ratified this by is really good."

The guild, which represents 120,000 actors in movies, TV and other media, said its work at the bargaining table will continue, leaving Hollywood in limbo about whether there would be a replay of the 100-day writers' strike that ended in February.

"We will continue to address the issues of importance to actors that AFTRA left on the table," SAG President Alan Rosenberg said in a statement. "We remain committed to achieving a fair contract for SAG actors."

The guild has not called for a strike authorization vote.

The producers' alliance hailed the deal, its fourth major contract with talent to be sealed in the past five months. "There is support for the new economic relationships we have built with writers, directors and actors, and not much support for a strike," the producers said in a statement.