The threatened strike by American unionized actors against the producers of TV and radio commercials starts today. Members of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists say they deserve a larger chunk of the boomimg cable TV business. They want to be able to collect residual payments for commercials shown on cable channels rather than the flat fee being proposed by engagers. The two unions represent about 135,000 actors. They are planning rallies for today in Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Chicago.
Ad agencies say they have been stockpiling commercials in anticipation of a strike.
They also say they will continue producing new commercials using non-union actors or union members willing to work under the agencies' terms. It won't have any immediate impact on advertisers. They can use previously run ads and they have already vowed to use non-union talent for new commercials.