Performers’ union SAG-AFTRA and major motion picture and television studios will commence bargaining on Monday ahead of a June 30 contract extension, the union and studio alliance said Friday in unexpected news.
The move means that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is effectively pushing aside the Writers Guild of America, which had requested May 11 talks but then rejected its own proposed date in a dispute over health plan coverage and told AMPTP president Carol Lombardini, “You people are despicable.” The SAG-AFTRA talks will be conducted via videoconference, with union president Gabrielle Carteris chairing its negotiating committee and national executive director David White serving as SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator..