Los Angeles - Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has formally requested that a federal mediator be brought into negotiations between its 120,000 actor members and the movie studios and networks over labor contracts.

"We hope mediation will help move this process forward," said SAG president Alan Rosenberg. "Economic times are tough for all Americans, but we must take a stand for what is fair."

The SAG board will also ask members to authorize a strike should the arbitration process fail -- which would require 75% approval from members.

Active negotiations between the two sides were broken off on June 30.

"Our number one goal remains securing a good contract without a strike," added SAG national executive director and chief negotiator Doug Allen.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/4jhsi (SAG statement)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081020/en_nm/us_actors_union_3 (Reuters)