Guild Board Asks Film Extras to Reject Contract

Reversing its position, the board of directors of the Screen Extras Guild on Tuesday sent a letter to the union’s 6,700 members urging them to reject a concessionary contract from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Last month, the extras guild negotiating team accepted a three-year contract that calls for major wage reductions and would allow the producers to hire more non-union extras on feature films and television programs.

Guild negotiators said they had decided to accept the contract because if they did not, it would force the guild into a strike that it could not win. Widespread protests ensued, culminating in a membership meeting attended by about 1,000 guild members Nov. 16. At that meeting, a motion urging all guild members to vote no on the contract was passed virtually unanimously.

Many members said they thought that if the contract was overwhelmingly rejected, it would force the producers alliance back to the negotiating table, leading to a better deal for the union.

Tuesday’s letter, signed by H. O’Neil Shanks, national executive secretary of the Screen Extras Guild, said the board was changing its recommendation “in view of the actions taken at the special membership meeting and the expressed determination to get a better contract.” Two union sources said Tuesday that the board’s action makes it highly likely the contract will be voted down. Ballots are due by the morning of Dec. 15.

There has been speculation that if the extras reject the contract, the producers’ alliance would exercise its option to declare an impasse in bargaining and implement the new contract.

J. Nicholas Counter III, alliance president, declined to comment directly on the union’s action. “The ratification process is an internal union matter. We’re not involved in that process,” Counter said through an aide.

But Counter added, “the producers have given the final offer to the union and the final offer stands.”

That offer calls for deep cuts in basic daily wages for extras--the people who fill out crowd scenes in movies and television shows--who currently earn $91 a day. Under the proposed contract, extras would be paid $68 for an eight-hour workday or $54 for a six-hour shift. Double-time pay on weekends would be eliminated, and extras would also have to work more hours to qualify for overtime. Another concession would reduce the minimum number of guild members who must be hired as extras on film and television productions before non-union extras can be hired.