Actors praise deal that could end 6 month long strike

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actors who appear in TV and radio commercials praised a deal yesterday that would end their six-month strike against the advertising industry, the longest talent walkout in Hollywood history.

"This is a great bit of news. ... My head hurts from bumping on the ceiling," actor Richard Dreyfuss said yesterday at a boisterous New York rally for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists.

If a joint union board endorses the contracts Oct. 28, actors could be back at work two days later while ratification by the rank-and-file takes place by mail.

Exact terms of the three-year deals were not disclosed. But both sides confirmed that the payment structure - the biggest source of friction during negotiations - will be largely unchanged after Hollywood's first major walkout in 12 years.

SAG rebuffed an industry demand that actors give up the payments they receive every time a commercial runs on network television, union negotiator John McGuire said. And the union dropped its demand to spread the residual system to cable TV, meaning actors will receive a flat fee for cable ads instead of "pay-for-play."

Advertisers also agreed that union members should be used in online ads, though no pay rates were negotiated.

"It's a win-win. It's a fair compromise from both sides. We're pleased with it," said Ira Shepard, an industry negotiator.

The strike, which began May 1, cost the Los Angeles-area economy an estimated $125 million in lost production, drove commercial work to Canada and Europe and illustrated the increasing strain of labor relations in the entertainment industry. Next year, actors and writers will negotiate separately with the major Hollywood studios, producers and TV networks.

SAG and AFTRA claim a combined membership of 135,000. Their members lost untold millions in commercial payments during the strike.

"I believe we can hold our heads high, as can the industry," AFTRA President Shelby Scott said. "I think the industry will be happy they can begin shooting good commercials again."

The industry, represented by the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers, was hit by boycotts and high-profile protests that increasingly involved marquee celebrities, including Paul Newman, Rosie O'Donnell and Tom Hanks.

Although some commercials were shot internationally during the strike, the union said it didn't expect the U.S. industry to suffer a longterm loss as a result.

"I'm enormously relieved the strike is over," said Todd Susman, who has appeared as a tutu-clad "tooth fairy" in a TV ad.

"It's done so much damage to our membership."