Here we are again, back in F%*&ing Strike Season!

We haven’t even seen teh full fallout from the Writer’s Guild strike, which certainly hurt next year’s slate (hence both Harry Potter and Star Trek seeing upgrades to summer tent-pole status). The Academy Awards is gonna have some slim pickings this and next year, especially if SAG decides to ride its high horse into strike territory…

From TV Guide:

The Screen Actors Guild announced Saturday it plans to seek support from members to pursue a strike vote, after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed again.

In a statement, the union said it “will now launch a full-scale education campaign in support of a strike authorization referendum.” SAG aims to empower its negotiating committee “to bargain with the strength of a possible work stoppage behind them.”

SAG, whose 120,000 members have been working under a contract that expired June 30, called the producers back to the table in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the writers strike that shut down the TV industry for 100 days earlier this year and cost the Los Angeles area economy an estimated $2.5 billion.

The actors and producers disagree over compensation concerning work reused or made for the Internet. AMPTP wants the union to follow new pacts already signed with the other major actors union, as well as the writers and directors.

Translation: SAG is getting whiny over new media rights, which is totally justifiable as sites like HULU take off. But justification for a work stoppage is much harder to come by, namely a 75% approval from members followed by a call to non-action by the SAG national board.

This is unlikely. With a recession baring down on the entire US economy, SAG striking might have the opposite effect on their public image. Americans just want their damn movies, people.