Tom Hanks All for TV, Radio Actors Making a Deal

Mon., Jun. 23, 2008 4:53 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

©Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com

Tom Hanks probably won't be hurting too much if there's an actors' strike, but that doesn't mean he cares to see any hard-up fellow thesps slinging lattes at Starbucks instead of practicing their craft this summer.

In hopes of avoiding yet another debilitating Industry strike, Hanks has thrown his support behind the new contract that the smaller of the two major actors unions—the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists—has arrived at with the major studios and networks.

The two-time Oscar winner added his name to an email petition encouraging AFTRA members to vote for the new deal, despite the Screen Actors Guild's continued haggling over further concessions.

"Either our employers will lock us out, or SAG will strike," the petition states. "There really is no alternative if the AFTRA deal is defeated."

SAG has let it be known that it's likely their negotiations will continue beyond its current contract's June 30 expiration, although it isn't opposed to letting actors keep working without a deal.

AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, which reps the major studios, reached a tentative agreement late last month.

James Cromwell, Adam Arkin, Morgan Fairchild and Tess Harper have also added their names to the AFTRA petition.

Hanks teamed up in February with fellow all-stars Meryl Streep, George Clooney and Robert De Niro in taking out a full-page ad in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter urging SAG to begin talks with the studios early so as to avoid a repeat of the 100-day writers' strike that ended up costing L.A. County more than $2 billion.

SAG and the AMPTP kicked off formal negotiations April 15, but the alliance temporarily walked away from the table May 6, citing the actors' "continued adherence to unreasonable demands."