Leaders for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists sat down in Silver Spring, Maryland this past weekend to discuss the prospect of merging their two labor organizations, thereby creating the largest acting guild in the world. After years of speculation, this was the first formal face-to-face between the two groups over the subject of merger. In a joint statement, AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon and Screen Actors Guild President Ken Howard praised the unions’ inaugural meeting saying: “We applaud the members and staff of our two unions for their incredible solidarity and vision during this intense and substantive weekend.” A vote on the merger is likely to happen by the end of the year.