Smaller Actors Union Delays Contract Talks to May 5

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352339,00.html

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

LOS ANGELES — The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said Wednesday it would delay the start of its contract talks with Hollywood studios for a week to give the ongoing Screen Actors Guild negotiations a better chance to succeed.

The move pushed back the start of talks from April 28 to May 5.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said on its Web site that it was not close to reaching a deal with SAG.

"At this time there remain significant gaps between the two parties, and we hope to use the extra time to narrow these gaps," it said.

The federation said it made the move at the request of the major studios and believes it will not hurt its members.

"We believe we can best serve our members' interests by briefly postponing our negotiations," the statement said.

A messages seeking comment from SAG was not immediately returned.

FULL story at link.