Union Leaders Permit Actors’ Return to Commercial Work

A work order authorizing striking actors to go back to work on commercials, starting Monday, was issued late Saturday after their union leaders voted to approve a new contract with the advertising industry.

Directors of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted as expected during a meeting in Los Angeles to approve the deal negotiated last week, ending the bitter six-month strike. Members of the two unions are expected to ratify the contract by the end of November.

The new contract provides for a significant raise in the fees actors receive for cable TV ads. It also, for the first time, covers commercials made exclusively for the Internet.