2 actors unions to play nice

Two unions representing Hollywood’s actors moved closer toward ending a fight that threatened to overshadow upcoming contract negotiations with the studios.

Leaders of the Screen Actors Guild agreed Tuesday to hold a joint board meeting with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on March 29 to draft proposals for negotiations that could begin in early April.

The actors’ contract expires June 30, and SAG leaders are being pressed by some prominent members to begin talks immediately to avoid another debilitating work stoppage on the heels of the Hollywood writers strike.

AFTRA President Roberta Reardon warned last week that the union would begin negotiations as early as this month -- without the Screen Actors Guild -- unless SAG dropped demands to change the terms of their 27-year partnership.

The groups have sparred over how to apportion votes on a joint committee that negotiates the main film and prime-time TV contract. SAG has long complained that each union gets equal weight even though SAG members account for the vast majority of earnings. SAG has 120,000 members compared with 70,000 in AFTRA.

Although SAG did not formally respond to Reardon’s letter, AFTRA so far has not made good on its threat to break ranks with its sister union.

The detente comes after leaders from both organizations were pressured by the AFL-CIO, of which both unions are members, to end an embarrassing spat before contract negotiations.

During a meeting in San Diego last week, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney admonished the leaders to settle their differences, two people familiar with the meeting said. A spokesman for the AFL-CIO declined to comment. AFTRA representatives also declined to comment.

On Tuesday, AFTRA Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth met with News Corp. President Peter Chernin and studio negotiator Nick Counter to discuss the upcoming talks. SAG leaders have had their own informal meetings with top studio executives.

The two unions, which share 40,000 members, could have a hard time finding common ground. AFTRA leaders support recent contracts negotiated by writers and directors. SAG leaders, however, have stressed that they will push for higher pay from new media and also seek something writers and directors couldn’t get -- more money from DVD sales.

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richard.verrier@latimes.com