A tentative agreement has been reached between the union and the three major SoCal grocery store chains, bringing to an end a tense and protracted period of negotiations hinging largely on health insurance fees and other wage-related issues. more ›

Los Angeles has a lesson to teach credit rating agency Standard & Poor's: Downgrade our credit rating and we just won't hire you anymore. (You can almost see us thumbing our nose, right?) Basically, L.A. is joining in with other cities and counties in giving the group the boot and claiming their rating doesn't really mean much, anyhow. more ›

The Los Angeles Police Commission has had it with the City of Los Angeles' current red light camera program, and today they said "no" to proposal to keep them up and running. At this point, the only way the city can keep them running is if "the City Council opts to strip the commission of its authority on the issue," explains L.A. Now. more ›

With 83.2% approval, members of United Teachers Los Angeles voted in favor of a new, 1-year contract that includes temporary salary reductions, but spares thousands of jobs, union representatives announced this weekend, according to the LA Times. In all, 40,000 union members were eligible to vote -- 20,429 members voted in favor of the agreement, 4,127 voted against it. more ›

Did you forget that we were boycotting businesses in Arizona? The Los Angeles City Council, who implemented the ban on doing business with the neighboring state because of their controversial immigration law, SB 1070, hasn't forgotten, though they have made yet another exemption in a series in order to keep certain services and goods in L.A. more ›

Many local brides opt to have their weddings at any number of beautiful venues in the Los Angeles area, giving their special occasion a special setting. An oft-selected location is the Hotel Bel-Air because of its oasis-like setting and long history as a place to escape for celebrities since it began serving guests in 1946. more ›

Finally. "The nine-month stalemate between the Screen Actors Guild and producers came to an end Tuesday night as SAG members overwhelmingly voted to approve the union’s new TV/theatrical contract with the AMPTP. The final tally: 78 percent voted 'yay', and 22 percent voted 'nay'," reports the The Warp. "The contract includes a 3 percent wage increase, a .5 percent increase in pension and health contributions and residuals for new-media work similar to the guild’s home-video residuals." more ›

Miss California Carrie Prejean, 21, has been quite the hot topic lately. She was practically an unknown until she said this about gay marriage: "I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised." more ›

After more than nine months of working without a contract, the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers--they represent the studios--today announced that they have reached a tentative agreement. "Details of the agreement covering television programs and motion pictures will not be disclosed prior to review by the SAG national board of directors this Sunday," says SAG. If approved, it will be sent to members for ratification. more ›

The Los Angeles Unified School District reached a tentative agreement yesterday with the union representing its teachers which gives them a new contract that will last until 2011, according to abc7.com. more ›

Crisis averted (for some) in Hollywood: "A union that represents more than 35,000 film and television workers has approved a three-year contract with Hollywood producers," according to cbs2.com. The new contract goes into effect on the 1st of August, and was unanimously endorsed by all 15 Hollywood local groups of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Reflected in the new contract are "some modest pay hikes but also cuts in health and pension benefits." Although some members of the longstanding union felt their leaders were negotiating outside their best interests, the majority were eager to get the contract settled, particularly in light of "the industry's recent struggles." more ›

It's late, you're tipsy and you just pricked yourself with a safety pin to write a contract in blood on a napkin. "Sir, please forgive me. Because of my deeds you have suffered financially. I will repay you to the best of my ability." Then some language was added in pen. That's what Stephen Son did for his friend Jinsoo Kim in October 2004 because he was owed $170,000. Kim then used that to sue Son, but a lower court and the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana yesterday said it was a "gratuitous unenforceable promise." Not only is the pen mightier than the sword, it's holier than your own blood. more ›

After negotiations hit a stalemate back in November, the Screen Actors Guild and representatives from Hollywood studios announced yesterday that "they will meet for two days next week," according to abc7.com. (SAG's site says they were to meet in Sherman Oaks last week, and has not been updated to reflect yesterday's announcement.) In the time since they last met to hash out a new deal, things have been rocky for SAG and its leadership. Murmurs about impending strikes and the lack of resolution prompted teamsters and members of the stagehands' union to picket outside SAG headquarters on Wilshire Blvd. this week. SAG also fired their top man, Doug Allen, when he was unable to make anything happen, either. Allen favored a strike, but many believe that is not going to happen under new leadership. more ›

Several International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts (IATSE) members and Teamsters picketed outside the Screen Actors Guild's Wilshire Boulevard offices this afternoon, hoping to urge the actors union to quit stalling on contract talks and get back to work. But some of SAG's own got out their own posterboard and sharpies and protested right back, telling them to "Butt out" and let SAG fight for their rights and settle their own battle with studios and producers. more ›

Figuring union members would vote down any authorization to strike, Screen Actors Guild officials have suspended plans to protest contract offers from movie studios and producers. "The declaration represents an about-face and follows months of preparations for a strike vote that would have given the guild the power to shut down production of major studio movies and prime-time TV shows," reported the Associated Press. SAG's contract with AMPTP expired last June. more ›

In suburban Covina, the city has entered into a contract with a private security company to enforce parking restrictions. The city hopes that Inter-Con Security, that begins enforcement on January 5, will provide more frequent and consistent response "to parking complaints in a consistent and timely manner," the Pasadena Star News reported. more ›

The Screen Actor Guild's talks with the AMPTP, who represents movie studios, failed Friday night, even with a Federal Mediator trying to help. That led them to seek a strike authorization vote. Entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel over at Huffington Posts finds the move incredulous: "Still, it's almost beyond belief that SAG might strike -- over issues that amount to mere pennies for the next several years at least -- and would do so in the middle of the worst economy since the invention of talking pictures, literally. Unfortunately, Hollywood's a place where dreams aren't the only thing that comes true; sometimes nightmares do as well. Here's hoping that there's still time for a sensible approach to prevail." more ›

Now three months without a contract, the Screen Actors Guild is trying to get the movie studios to restart talks by looking into "three make-or-break issues," according to Variety. But studio execs aren't budging saying SAG needs to change their position on those issues. "If we can reach agreement on three threshold issues, we can finish these negotiations," SAG wrote in an open letter. "Other issues divide us, certainly, but we believe those other issues can be successfully addressed once we have resolved these three threshold issues." The last face-to-face meeting between SAG and studios was on July 16. more ›

It was looking to possibly be a dramatic summer when the Screen Actors Union and movie studios were scrambling to renew their contract with each other before it ended. But the contract expired, no deal was made (but AFTRA's deal was) and here we are months later. more ›

Early yesterday afternoon, members of SEIU Local 1877 who work at LAX in a variety of capacities in jobs as janitors, skycaps, and wheelchair attendants, went on strike. They have been seeking "higher wages and affordable health care," explaining that they wish to have more pay and security in order to ensure the quality of their lives and their work. The workers opted to strike only when talks between their union and the 9 contractors who broker their employment with LAX hit a stalemate. Although the walk-out was not expected to derail operations at the city's very busy airport, it did affect travel times for customers of United, Southwest, and American. more ›

The votes came in and were counted: members of AFTRA--the nation’s second largest performers’ union--overwhelmingly voted to ratify a contract with the AMPTP, who represents movie studios and producers, by a 62.4% margin. more ›

The Screen Actors Guild announced today that they will "present its response" to the "last best final" contract offer by movie studios and producers, who hope it will be accepted. With that, Nikki Finke opines: "... the Big Media companies are prepared to play hardball. I forsee a repeat of what happened during the lowest ebb of the writers strike: the AMPTP walks away from the talks and issues an ultimatum to SAG to take certain demands off the table. Whether this speeds up or slows down an eventual contract settlement remains to be seen." more ›

No deal has been met between the the Screen Actors Guild and the movie studios and producers, who have given their "last best final" offer. Right now, it's all about back and forth information sharing as they look over the offer. more ›

SAG and AMPTP met yesterday afternoon to discuss the new contract offered by the movie studios. Hours before the contract expired on Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., AMPTP offered the actors their "final offer," which SAG had many questions about yesterday. SAG is now going back to analyze and review AMPTP's proposal. But all of this is a waiting game until July 8 when the other and smaller actors union, AFTRA, announces if their disputed bad deal with the studios was ratified or not. "Then," Nikki Finke correctly notes, "Hollywood travels into uncharted territory." more ›

Now that the contract between the largest actors guild and the movie studios has expired, with talks to resume Wednesday, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers is using a tactic on their website to show the economic pain the actors will supposedly cause if they authorize a strike. Two flash animation boxes on their homepage give out these statistics based on an Milken Institute study (for the writers strike) and Screen Actors Guild's reported earnings. more ›

Day 42 into the negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and no result. The contract expires Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. and the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. more ›

That was what the AMPTP reportedly said when negotiations first began with the SAG. But that's just one option that SAG says will not happen. The Hollywood reporter breaks down how it could play out if no deal is reached by tonight's deadline: "They could negotiate a contract extension, which could be by day, week or month, and keep talking; the studios could lock out the actors; or SAG could seek a strike-authorization vote from its membership, which will be at least a two-week process as the negotiating committee must vote on whether to bring a strike." more ›

Today, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers took out an ad (to the left) in both Variety and Hollywood Reporter stating their concerns over another strike. more ›

No, it is unlikely the drama of that the negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) will bleed out on the streets. In a statement late yesterday morning, SAG president, Alan Rosenberg, had this to say: "We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee is coming to the bargaining table every day in good faith to negotiate a fair contract for actors." more ›

Studio Reps: "'Frustrated and discouraged' at the guild's attitude." more ›