AMPTP: SAG strike would be self-defeating

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A group of TV and film producers says in an open letter printed Monday in the Los Angeles Times a Screen Actors Guild strike would be self-defeating.

SAG President Alan Rosenberg said last month that guild members are to be sent strike referendum ballots in December. SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers met in November with a federal mediator in hopes of working out a new contract, as their most recent one expired June 30. However, the mediator ended the session after little progress was made.

AMPTP has repeatedly said the package it presented June 30 was its final offer, however, SAG has continued to fight for a better deal.

In an open letter to the entertainment industry printed in Monday's Times, AMPTP reminded readers it has already successfully made six major labor agreements with various guilds and unions this year.

Rosenberg has said SAG members should vote to strike only if all other avenues have been exhausted.

"Because of SAG's failed negotiating strategy, our industry now faces the prospect of another destructive and unnecessary strike," AMPTP, which represents Hollywood's major film studios and TV networks, said in its letter. "A SAG strike would be self-defeating from the start -- with actors losing more within the first several days of the strike than they could ever hope to gain."