Actors Unions, Studios Hold Talks

Tuesday, December 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” Representatives of the two Hollywood actors unions held their first meeting with top studio executives to discuss labor issues, a precursor to upcoming contract negotiations.

The 75-minute session Monday focused on key union issues such as residuals, diversity and Internet jurisdiction, but no timetable was set to start formal talks. The meeting came amid widespread fears of a crippling industry strike next year.

The current contract covering the 135,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists expires June 30. There is also the possibility of a strike by the Writers Guild of America, which covers 11,000 writers; that contract expires May 1.

SAG President William Daniels and AFTRA President Shelby Scott led the meeting, which was attended by studio heads from every major studio but Disney. Also present were such high-profile union members as Holly Hunter, Valerie Harper, Ed Norton, David Hyde Pierce, Tobey Maguire and Noah Wyle.

``We have been saying for weeks that we believe there is always a deal to be made and that our members prefer to be working rather than walking a picket line,'' union leaders Daniels and Scott said in a joint statement.

Earlier this year, actors unions struck against producers of commercials, a walkout that stretched six months before a deal was reached in October. The last major strike affecting movies and television programs was the Writers Guild's 22-week walkout in 1988, which cost the industry an estimated $500 million.