- Associated Press, via THR.com

LOS ANGELES The Screen Actors Guild  has delayed a vote that would give the union the power to call a strike and bring the entertainment business to a virtual halt.

SAG announced Monday night that it would delay sending out the ballots until Jan. 14 at the earliest. SAG had planned to send strike authorization ballots to more than 100,000 union members on Jan. 2, a date that would have put Oscar night within reach of a potential boycott.

It was not clear how long the vote would be delayed.

The decision comes more than week after a New York faction of the union spoke out against the vote, noting the industry's economic struggles.

SAG leaders have been pushing for the vote amid stalled contract negotiations with studios.

Jesse Hiestand, a spokesman for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said he knows about the delay but would not comment. SAG spokeswoman Pamela Greenwalt also would not comment.