SAG, Advertisers Are Summoned by Federal Mediators

Federal mediators have summoned both sides in the 10-week-old strike by actors against the advertising industry to a meeting later this month to try to break the stalemate.

The New York session is scheduled for July 20, with the possibility that it could last another day if mediators make progress in trying to push both sides back into serious negotiations to end the strike over how actors are to be paid for appearing in commercials.

A similar meeting called in June by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service failed to produce results.

Representatives of the Screen Actors Guild, which is striking along with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, called the meeting significant because all of the negotiating teams will be there. SAG went so far as to call the session “a resumption of full negotiations.”

But lawyer Ira Shepard, who represents major advertisers and agencies, downplayed it. He said that both negotiating teams could have been at the June meeting but weren’t because SAG opted not to send its full contingent.

He added that although the advertisers welcome the meeting, there is no guarantee that the two sides will make progress or even end up negotiating face to face as a result.

Actors are seeking to be paid as commercials air on cable TV instead of receiving a flat fee as they do now. Advertisers would like to pay a flat fee when commercials run on both cable and network TV.

Actors now are paid each time commercials air on network TV.