No Negotiations Watch: Salomon Predicts Strike Authorization Vote…If…

November 18, 2008 by Editor.

In a post late last night, Andrew Salomon of Backstage offered his interpretation of this week’s scheduled non-negotiation session between the union and SAG. Salomon says it might lead to a strike authorization vote, presumably because he expects the union committee to get frustrated when it shows up in Sherman Oaks only to discover that while the federal mediator has persuaded the two sides to meet, he hasn’t persuaded the producers to move off their “last, best and final” offer. 

It’s important to remember, as Salomon apparently does, that Membership First still controls the TV-Theatrical negotiating committee, even though it no longer controls the SAG National board room - and, of course, the National Board has given the committee the authority to call for a strike authorization vote.

So, where does that leave us?

Conventional wisdom is that a strike authorization vote could easily fail. It takes 75% to pass, and, as we heard on the management-friendly CNBC this morning, it certainly takes an unusual employee (or group) to come in and ask for a big raise in this environment. The Hollywood activist/radical faction may be that “unusual” group, but it’s not clear that the rest of the union will follow their lead - after all, the recent election results can be read as a repudiation of Membership First tactics.

That, presumably, is where the National Board authorized “educational campaign” would come in - trying to persuade the membership to back a authorization at least as a negotiating tool. The hypotheticals that stem from this get complicated, and we’re not going to go there…yet.

We’re not expecting great news from Thursday’s session. But we’d be delighted to be surprised.

Posted in SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 16 Comments »