LOS ANGELES, June 30 (Xinhua) -- As the current labor contract between a major actors union and Hollywood studios expires Monday night, no imminent work stoppage is expected even without a new deal in place.

    "Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction," Alan Rosenberg, president of the 120,000-member Screen Actor Guild, said earlier in a statement released Sunday.

    Rosenberg said that the SAG's board has not asked for authorization to call a strike by its members.

    The fruitless negotiations between the union and Hollywood producers since nearly two months ago coincide with deep dissension within the actors' ranks.

    The SAG leadership has recently angered the leaders of a smaller sister group, the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors, by asking the SAG members who also belong to AFTRA to vote against an agreement reached earlier between AFTRA and the producers.

    AFTRA has a total of 70,000 members, among them about 44,000 also hold SAG membership.

    The call also has created divisions within SAG itself, with some actors supporting it and others decrying it.

    It was reported that some A-lister actors had taken sides in the debate over whether the AFTRA contract should be ratified or voted down. While Oscar winners like Tom Hanks and Kevin Spacey supported the new AFTRA contract, high-profile actors including Jack Nicholson, Ben Stiller and Martin Sheen supported SAG's position of voting down the contract.

    Meanwhile, the continuing lack of a SAG agreement has many in Hollywood on edge, fearing another entertainment-industry work stoppage just five months after the end of the 100-day writers strike.

    According to Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., the writers strike cost the local economy estimated 3 billion dollars, including lost wages for writers and production workers, and reduced businesses for Hollywood-related service industry.