Escalating Hollywood labor jitters, the Screen Actors Guild said on Wednesday it would hold a long-threatened strike authorization vote next month in a final bid to squeeze a better contract from major studios.

The union, which represents about 120,000 performers, said a "yes" vote by 75 percent of those returning ballots would give its governing board permission to call a strike "if and when the board determines it is necessary."

Ballots will be mailed on January 2 and counted on January 23.

The announcement came 2-1/2 weeks after a federal mediator failed to break months of stalemate in talks over SAG's main contract for film and television work.