Hollywood Unions Agree to Merge

   Hollywood- Leaders of the 125,000 - member Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the 70,000 - member American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) reached an agreement Monday, after nine days of intensive talks, at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel.  If approved, as expected the new union would be called SAG-AFTRA.  The merger would end decades-long competition between the two groups to represent actors.  Two earlier merger attempts in 1999 and 2003 failed.  About 40,000 actors belong to both unions.  See also, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/.