AFTRA Counts Its Ballots Today!!
Will They Avert An Actors’ Strike??

I am – Hercules!!
Tuesday will perhaps be a pivotal day for an anxious movie and TV industry. A union vote to be tallied today or tomorrow could determine whether Hollywood will be hobbled by another strike. A firm called Integrity Voting Systems has been hired to count ballots cast by members of performers’ union American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), which finished voting Monday on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The AFTRA/AMPTP contract is designed to replace the one that expired June 30. If the contract is approved as expected, larger rival union Screen Actors Guild (SAG) – whose contract with the AMPTP also expired June 30 – will likely find itself more skittish about asking its membership to strike, and more anxious to accept a new contract without a labor walkout. Stay tuned, and read all of the Hollywood Reporter’s story on the matter here.