SAG faction cool on strike vote

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In a sign of rising tensions within the Screen Actors Guild, the group representing a moderate faction of actors within the union is urging its supporters to think long and hard before casting their support for a strike authorization vote.

SAG leaders, citing the need for leverage in negotiations with Hollywood studios, recently said they would seek strike authorization from the union’s 120,000 members. Talks have been logjammed for months. The movie and TV industry is bracing for the possibility of a second strike in a year -- this time by Hollywood’s largest union -- which would have far-reaching economic consequences.

In an e-mail sent to about 2,000 supporters of Unite for Strength, the group that recently won key seats on SAG’s 71-member national board, organizers Amy Aquino and Arye Gross questioned whether the union was moving too hastily toward a showdown with the studios.

‘In these historically difficult economic times, every reasonable possibility for making a deal must be explored before considering a job action, and based on the media reports we’ve seen, we’re concerned this hasn’t happened,’ the actors wrote. Aquino is a former board member of SAG and supporter of former SAG President Melissa Gilbert, who clashed with the current faction that dominates SAG.

SAG President Alan Rosenberg said the e-mail was ill-considered. ‘When the federal mediator declared that the mediation had adjourned, there was very little else to say,’’ Rosenberg said. ‘We made every effort imaginable to reach a deal with the [studios] and they were as immovable as they have been since the beginning of negotiations.’

Unite for Strength flexed its newfound clout in October by pushing for the failed mediation talks, which many predicted were doomed from the start because the sides were so far apart over how actors would be compensated in the digital era.

Tuesday’s e-mail, however, stopped short of specifically recommending how SAG members should vote, reflecting the tightrope the new board members are walking between supporting their union in a time of negotiations and living up to the expectations of those who elected them.

Nonetheless, the letter was interpreted by many supporters as a signal to oppose the authorization vote. SAG is expected to send out strike referendum ballots by mid-December, with the voting lasting three to four weeks. If the strike authorization is approved by 75% of members who vote, SAG could stage a walkout in early January, potentially disrupting Hollywood’s awards season and schedules for filming movies.

The national board, however, will have ultimate say over whether a strike would occur. Backed by high-profile actors including Tom Hanks and Sally Field, Unite for Strength won five seats on the national board, giving moderates in the guild a slight majority over the incumbent group known as Membership First, which has strongly backed the current leadership. Unite for Strength candidates criticized the guild’s handling of contract negotiations, in particular its unsuccessful efforts to defeat a contract negotiated by the smaller actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

-- Richard Verrier