AFTRA

Federal judge James Otero on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit that would have blocked the proposed merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The results of the vote by the roughly 130,000 members of the two unions are to be announced Friday.

The three-year deal primarily covers soap operas and unscripted programming.

The merger of Hollywood’s two leading acting unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, moved closer to reality after SAG’s national board approved the measure on Friday.

Those who deliver the news are raising their voices. The Pittsburgh ABC affiliate’s on-air staff has launched a social media campaign to protest what it says is unfair treatment by Hearst Television management.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced Friday night that it has reached a tentative agreement with the Big Four broadcast networks on a new network TV contract, ocvering all network programming except scripted primetime shows..

AFTRA has set a Nov. 7 start date for negotiations with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox on a new Network Television Code contract. It’s the biggest contract the American Federation of TV and Radio Artist has, covering $250 million a year in employee earnings.

The Screen Actors Guild and its smaller sister union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, have begun formal discussions to merge their unions. Committees approved by the respective boards of the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA to come up with a plan to combine the unions met for the first time over the weekend.

Members of the Peoria, Ill., local chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists at WEEK and WHOI on Friday rejected what the stations’ owner Granite Broadcasting called its “last, best and final offer.”

WGAE says it’s “deeply disappointed” that All My Children and One Life to Live will go dark, while AFTRA says it’s a “devastating loss” for its members.

With contract talks with AFTRA at an impasse, the Sunbeam Boston NBC affiliate says bias is not a problem.

The American Federation of TV and Radio Artists is dominating a third straight pilot season, with the labor organization claiming 70 of 80 pilots from the five broadcast networks so far, according an individual with knowledge of AFTRA dealings.

Momentum continues to build toward the creation of a single actors union in Hollywood. The board of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on Saturday night voted to continue a series of meetings with the leadership of the Screen Actors Guild about forming a joint union.

If even the most optimistic merger scenarios come true, then by the end of 2011 and just in time for the 18th SAG Awards, Hollywood may have a single actors union that would replace SAG and AFTRA. And therefore a newly conceived awards show for the combined actors’ union.

After six weeks of bargaining, ending in a marathon session that extended into the night, SAG and AFTRA reached a new three-year deal Sunday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.