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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the May 18, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
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Tiger Woods, Nomar Garciaparra

Sports superstars won't scab

On May 2 golfing superstar Tiger Woods, who has a contract for $60 million for Nike advertising over the next five years, refused to cross a Screen Actors Guild picket line to shoot a commercial.

SAG members are striking to demand a "pay-per-play" formula for TV commercials made for cable like those currently shown on broadcast networks. The actors get a residual payment each time a commercial is played on a broadcast network. Currently they only get a fixed one-time fee for cable commercials.

Actors' fees make up only a small percentage of the total costs of producing a commercial. Yet the advertisers are trying to squeeze the actors even harder by extending the flat fee from cable to the networks.

Commenting on Woods' action, SAG spokesperson Greg Krizman said, "We deeply appreciate the support of this international superstar."

Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra demonstrated that he was a team player, too. On May 4 he canceled a Dunkin' Donuts commercial shoot scheduled at Fenway Park in Boston.

Garciaparra said of the actors: "That's their living. You've got to respect that."

SAG President William Daniels said that Garciaparra "hit a home fun for us, and that's what we're seeing from all of our members."

--John Catalinotto

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