The Screen Actors Guild spent Oscar weekend fine tuning its performance for most confused union in negotiations. SAG, which recently fired its executive director and lead negotiator, turned down the “Last, Best and Final” offer from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers; the national board voted it down by a 46 percent margin.  But, as Nikki Finke notes over at Deadline Hollywood, they rejected a proposal to send a strike authorization vote and they refused to let the rank and file vote on the contract offer. The latest sticking point: the contract would start now, not date back to the previous contract’s expiration, and would put it out of sync with other unions. Would it accept the deal with that in place? Totally unclear.

The LB&F offer—not to be confused with the ‘final offer’—stays on the table for 60 days, after which AMPTP says “we reserve the right to modify or withdraw the terms of the offer.” The offer under discussion was made Feb. 19, after several days of negotiations, and includes what the producers say are six “additional concessions.” Those include modifying the union security clause for new media productions; the other new media points date back to last June’s offer, among them residuals for ad-supported film and TV streaming. The highlights are outlined here (pdf). The full version, complete with strikeouts, is here. (pdf)

The producers’ organization tried to talk directly to SAG members, urging “SAG members to review the offer for themselves and consider not only the enhancements but the significant gains in wages, benefits, new media residuals and jurisdiction.” It’s winning the web PR battle so far, with a countdown clock showing how much SAG members are missing in lost wage increases and a “movie ad” raving about “The Deal.”

Excerpts from the SAG and AMPTP statements after the jump.

More on SAG’s saga here

SAG: “We entered this round of negotiations sending an unmistakably clear message that we were ready to make a deal. In an effort to put the town back to work, our negotiator agreed to modify the Guild’s bargaining position to bring the Guild in line with the deals made by our sister unions. The AMPTPs last-minute, surprise demand for a new term of agreement extending to 2012 is regressive and damaging and clearly signals the employers’ unwillingness to agree to the deal they established with other entertainment unions. The demand for a new term of agreement was not part of their final offer of June 30, 2008; it was not part of the federally mediated talks of November 2008, and should not have been inserted into the discussions when we returned to negotiations on February 17, 2009.”

AMPTP: “The Producers have always sought a full three-year deal with SAG, just as we negotiated with all the other Unions and Guilds, and have offered SAG a way to achieve an earlier expiration date without contributing to further labor uncertainty. We simply cannot offer SAG a better deal than the rest of the industry achieved under far better economic conditions than those now confronting our industry.”

• As SAG Turns: Board Forces Strike Proponent Allen To Resign As Exec Director—And Chief Negotiator
• Report: SAG Delays Strike Vote Until At Least Mid-January
• Producers And Studios Stick To Their Guns, Reiterate Final Offer To Actors Guild