Mediators Get Writers, Producers Talking Again

Negotiators for the striking Writers Guild of America were joined by officers of other Hollywood unions on Saturday afternoon as they began their first formal talks with producers since the guild rejected a company contract offer on June 23.

Federal mediators, who convened the session, immediately declared a news “blackout” on the talks, which began at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Floyd Wood, an officer with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, said the blackout would last “as long as it takes to get an agreement.”

Charge, and Denial

Last week, informal discussions in the 20-week-old labor dispute had broken down amid increasing acrimony.

At a Thursday press briefing, chief guild negotiator Brian Walton charged that chief company negotiator J. Nicholas Counter III had privately told him that the producers planned to “do nothing” at the Saturday session, and that the dispute would have to be settled “by forces outside the collective bargaining process.”

Walton said Counter did not explain what those forces were.

Counter angrily responded of the charge: “It’s not true. . . . I don’t know why he said it.”

Conflicting Positions

Sources close to the earlier informal talks said the producers had expressed willingness to give the guild its first agreement covering productions made for basic cable services, such as the USA Network, and the guild had said it might be willing to limit its demand for additional annual residual payments when TV shows are sold in foreign markets. But neither side proved willing to give up conflicting positions on foreign residuals and residuals for reruns of one-hour TV shows.

Among the union leaders who joined the talks on Saturday were representatives of the Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild of America, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and Teamsters. A number of union leaders have expressed alarm over economic damage inflicted on their members by the prolonged strike, which began March 7.