LOS ANGELES — Rank-and-file members of the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have overwhelmingly approved a new contract with commercial advertisers.
The vote brings an official end to a six-month talent strike by TV and radio commercial actors, the longest in Hollywood history.
In a statement Friday, the Screen Actors Guild said 124,724 ballots were mailed to members of both unions. Of the 42,768 ballots returned, more than 41,000 — about 96 percent — approved the new contracts.
Union leaders voted in late October to endorse agreements negotiated with the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies. The actors returned to work Oct. 30 after the joint union board endorsed the tentative contracts.
The strike, which began May 1, cost actors undetermined millions of dollars and cost the Los Angeles area at least $125 million in lost production as it drove commercial work to Canada and Europe.
Both sides made key concessions in the agreement. The advertising industry agreed to continue to give actors residual payments when their ads run on network television. The unions gave up their demand to spread the residual system to cable TV stations. The advertising industry also agreed to recognize the union's jurisdiction in Internet ads.
The rates and provisions covered in the contract are retroactive to Oct. 30 and will remain in effect through 2003.
Hollywood is bracing for more labor trouble next year, when both the Writers Guild of America and the unions representing TV and film actors are threatening to strike.
On the Net: Screen Actors Guild: www.sag.org
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists: www.aftra.org
Association of National Advertisers: www.ana.net
American Association of Advertising Agencies: www.aaaa.org