Movie studios yesterday used a full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times accusing the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), which has a membership of about 120,000 film and television actors, of jeopardizing the work of other unions in the industry by threatening a strike.

In a "open letter" singed by chief executives of eight major studios, Hollywood's top management said SAG was demanding the entire industry literally throw out all its hard work because the union believed it deserves more than the 230,000 other people working in the industry.

SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers(AMPTP), which represents movie studios and television broadcasters, had failed several rounds of negotiations about a new three-year contract, although they have reached deals with other unions like those of writers and directors.

Leaders of the actors union earlier said they were seeking a vote from its members in December to authorize a strike after the latest contract talks broke down nearly two weeks ago.

The two sides have launched public relations offensives against each other over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend over the upcoming strike authorization vote, blaming each other for being greedy during the current economic crisis.

SAG President Alan Rosenberg blasted the studios for harping on the bad economy in a letter to the union's members released last week, saying that middle-income actors were victims of corporate greed and it was not the actors who caused the turmoil.

Rosenberg said that a strike would be called by the union's national board "only if it becomes absolutely necessary." It is expected the ballot would go to all the SAG members, mostly in Los Angeles and New York, later this month.

Obtaining a strike authorization requires approval by 75 percent of those voting and the final decision to strike is up to SAG's national board.

But Rosenberg also said that union leaders would try their best to work towards reaching a fair agreement without a work stoppage. Such a walkout would be the second major Hollywood strike in nearly one year after the 100-day work stoppage by writers.

The Writers Guild of America strike that began November 5 last year cost the Los Angeles area economy as much as 2 billion dollars and left tens of thousands of people without jobs, local officials said.

Meanwhile, AMPTP has warned that if the actors union obtains approval of the authorization, a strike becomes inevitable because of the union's unwillingness to compromise on its "unrealistic demands."

The actors union has been demanding that the studios give it a better deal than other unions of professionals like the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America received. The union in particular wants an increase in the DVD residuals rate, which has long been rejected by the studios.