The Screen Actors Guild has issued a statement saying that an actors' strike in Hollywood is not imminent despite the expiration of the guild's contract with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers tomorrow night.

The SAG is currently embroiled in a campaign to scupper an agreement reached between smaller union AFTRA - the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists - and the AMPTP, which covers controversial ground such as DVD and new media residuals. The proposed agreement has yet to be ratified by the 70,000 members of AFTRA, and the SAG is trying to lobby 44,000 of its own members who are also members of AFTRA to vote against it on the basis that its residual percentages and compensation packages for middle-income actors are insufficient.

The division has already resulted in top-name actors supporting different guilds: it is known, for example, that Tom Hanks and Kevin Spacey support AFTRA while Jack Nicholson and Ben Stiller support the SAG's position.

George Clooney has urged the two sides to reconcile before Hollywood, still recovering from the Writers Guild strike that lasted from November 2007 to this February, is torn apart.

"Rather than pitting artist against artist, maybe we could find a way to get what both unions are looking for," he said. "Because the one thing you can be sure of is that stories about Jack Nicholson versus Tom Hanks only strengthen the negotiating power of the AMPTP."

For its part, the AMPTP said it "remains committed to avoiding another harmful, unnecessary strike and to reaching another equitable and forward-looking labour agreements".

Yesterday, SAG president Alan Rosenberg responded: "We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee is coming to the bargaining table every day in good faith to negotiate a fair contract for actors."