Hollywood actors end stir over pay disparities

Hollywood actors end stir over pay disparities
REUTERS

NEW YORK, OCT 24: Striking actors said on Monday they could resume work for the advertising industry as early as next week after settling a dispute over payment for broadcast, cable and internet commercials, ending a six-month walkout that is the longest in Hollywood history.

Pending approval by its board and the expected ratification by mail of Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television & Radio Artists members, Union representatives said their members would be ready to return to work next Monday.

"The negotiators ... have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract in the fields of television and radio commercials, effectively ending the strike that began on May 1," Paul Reggio, an actor who referred to himself as "the retired captain of the strike," told a news conference.

Officials of the unions, which represent 135,000 actors, said they had achieved many, but not all, of their goals after the six-month strike, which cost members as much as $ 2 million per day in session fees and residuals. The ad industry paid SAG and AFTRA members more than $ 720 million last year.

"Our membership has every reason to be happy about this agreement," said SAG president William Daniels, best known for his starring role on the 1980s hospital drama "St. Elsewhere."