"We're puzzled and disheartened by an ongoing WGA (Writers Guild of America) negotiating strategy that seems designed to delay or derail talks rather than facilitate an end to this strike," the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in a statement.
In response, the guild said the chief alliance negotiator, Nick Counter, slammed the door on bargaining after presenting an ultimatum and before the union could respond to his latest proposal regarding crucial new-media compensation issues.
"As we prepared our counteroffer, at 6:05 p.m., Nick Counter came and said to us, in the mediator's presence,
'We are leaving. When you write us a letter saying you will take all these items off the table, we will reschedule negotiations with you,'" according to a union statement.
A detailed alliance announcement on the talks' collapse was released a short time later. Counter was unavailable Friday night for comment, the alliance said.
A letter the guild said it received from Counter said negotiations could resume only after the guild removed a half-dozen demands.
The guild said it remained "ready and willing to negotiate, no matter how intransigent our bargaining partners are, because the stakes are simply too high."
"If someone called tomorrow and said let's start on Sunday and we want to hear your counterproposal, I'd say great," chief guild negotiator David Young told The Associated Press.
The writers guild represents 12,000 members but not all are on strike, with about 2,000 or so news writers and others covered under a separate contract.
Just two days ago, the sides had expressed their first hint of optimism. But on Friday, it appeared that the industry's first walkout in 20 years was far from being resolved.
The entertainment industry contributes an estimated $30 billion a year to the Los Angeles economy, or about $80 million a day.
