Hollywood studios to resume talks with major actors' union

Hollywood studios are expected to resume contract talks with the biggest actors' union in the United States Wednesday after reaching a tentative agreement with a smaller union of television and radio performers.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the association representing Hollywood producers announced Wednesday morning that they have reached a new three-year primetime television contract.

The tentative accord, a result of nearly three weeks of negotiations, was modeled on a pact that ended the 100-day writers' strike in February.

AFTRA's roughly 70,000 members, mainly commercial and television actors, would see their pay from content sold online double and sets pay rates for free programs streamed online, among other things.

"This is another groundbreaking agreement for AFTRA," said AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon.

Meanwhile, negotiators of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) are set to resume contact talks with the larger Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Wednesday. The alliance represents major Hollywood studios, TV networks and entertainment companies.

Wednesday's agreement is increasing pressure on SAG, which has about 120,000 members across the country, to secure its own contract, and making it tougher for the major union to fight for better terms.

SAG and its junior sister group used to negotiate with producers as a bloc, until the two actors' unions ended their bargaining partnership earlier this year. The current SAG contract expires June 30.

The actors' union and the producers' association had met 18 times since last month without reaching an agreement. Both sides said they are trying to avoid a repeat of the earlier writers' strike, which halted most new productions in the entertainment industry.