Tiger faces strike hearing

Tiger Woods waves to fans during filming for the car advert

Golfer Tiger Woods has been ordered to attend a disciplinary hearing by a US actors' union after appearing in a car commercial despite a strike against the advertising industry.

The Screen Actors Guild wants the world number one to explain why he shot a TV commercial for Buick cars in Canada on 26 July.

Woods, who was applauded by the guild for refusing to film a Nike spot the day after the strike started in May, now faces a reprimand, fines, suspension or expulsion from the union.

It has sent a notice to Woods' management directing the golfer to appear before a trial board on 18 August, SAG spokeswoman Ilyanne Kichaven said.

A trial board is a panel of three members of the union's board of directors.

'Contractual obligation'

The golfer said he was under a contractual obligation with General Motors which he entered into long before the dispute started, and so did not mean to strike-break.

Tiger Woods is the youngest player ever to have won all four major golf championships

"It was an extremely tough situation, but I have relationships to uphold with my sponsors, who have supported me over the years," Woods said in a statement issued last week.

"This is in no way a stance against the union."

However, the union was disappointed that Woods did not use his celebrity clout to persuade Buick, a subsiduary of the car giant, to sign a union-approved "interim agreement," which allows members to perform under terms set by the guild.

Such arrangements have reportedly been used for advertisements shot by film-maker Spike Lee and others.

Pay dispute

The SAG and the American Federation of Television & Radio Actors, which together represent a total of 135,000 actors, launched their action against television and radio advertisers on 1 May in a dispute over payments for TV ads.

Liz Hurley has also come under fire for crossing the picket line

The unions want "pay-for-play residuals" - which pay actors according to how often their commercials are broadcast - extended to cable TV ads, which currently pay actors a flat rate.

The industry wants to abolish pay-for-play in favour of a flat-rate structure for both network and cable TV ads.

Woods is the latest high-profile member of the actors union to face possible disciplinary action for an alleged violation of the 13-week-old strike.

British actress and model Liz Hurley shot a non-union commercial for Estee Lauder in early July but later apologised through her agent, saying she was unaware of the situation because she lives outside the United States.

Her case is being assessed by the union, but no trial board date has been set as yet.

Last week teenage pop star Britney Spears endorsed the strike, by cancelling a commercial shoot with Clairol and donating money from concerts held in New York and Los Angeles to the Screen Actors Guild.