MUMBAI: The national board of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artistes (AFTRA) has announced that it has given negotiators for the labor group's sound recording contract authorization to strike.

The current contract will expire on 31 Dec. Since 15 August, negotiations have commenced between AFTRA and Sony, UMG, Warner, EMI, Disney and most of their subsidiary labels for a successor agreement to the AFTRA National Code of Fair Practice for Sound Recordings, with an additional round of bargaining in the week of Sept. An additional bargaining date has been set for 5 Oct in an effort to resolve outstanding issues. AFTRA national executive director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth serves as chief negotiator for the Union.

The Sound Recordings code covers singers, royalty and non-royalty artistes, along with announcers, actors, comedians, narrators and sound effects artistes who work on recordings in all new and traditional media and all music formats, in addition to audio books, comedy albums and cast albums. The code generates more than $140 million annually in AFTRA-covered earnings and benefits for both major artistes and session singers around the country.

AFTRA national executive director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth said, The Sound Recordings and Network Television Codes are AFTRA's two largest and most mature contracts, and for more than 50 years, they have each provided thousands of AFTRA members with strong wages and important benefits. But the traditional music, news and entertainment industries are changing rapidly, and the current and upcoming negotiations will provide a critical glimpse into the significant challenges that lie ahead in the 21st century and beyond. In order to prevail, professional union talent must stand together and organize themselves through their union so that together they can secure strong contracts....