Actors, Advertisers Schedule Contract Talks

Actors and advertisers announced Thursday that they had formally scheduled talks on a new contract covering commercials. The negotiations will be the two groups’ first since a bitter six-month strike ended three years ago.

Soaring health-care costs and contributions to pension plans are expected to be the main issues when the bargaining teams meet Sept. 23 in New York. The current contract expires Oct. 29.

In a joint statement, the two sides said they “share the desire to reach a mutually acceptable agreement as early as possible.”

Actors are represented by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Advertisers are represented by the joint policy committee of the Assn. of National Advertisers and the American Assn. of Advertising Agencies.

Actors struck the industry in 2000 in what became the longest walkout in entertainment industry history. Those talks largely centered on residuals actors receive for commercials.