Although it was scheduled to hold a "solidarity" rally in Los Angeles this
morning (Monday), the Screen Actors Guild was being accused of disruptive
tactics aimed at dominating union affairs in the industry in general and those
of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in particular. "SAG
Goes to War Against AFTRA," headlined Daily Variety, citing SAG's
efforts to encourage members who hold joint membership in AFTRA to vote down
the recent pact signed by AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers. Reporting on SAG's strategy the Los Angeles Times
accused the union of "attempting to throw a monkey wrench" into the
agreement with AFTRA. The newspaper quoted Paul Christie, a former president of
SAG's New York local and a current member of the union's national board, as
saying, "Asking dual cardholders to vote down a contract for one of the unions
that they work under is possibly the most idiotic course to date." Today's
Hollywood Reporter said that AFTRA President Roberta Reardon is planning
to discuss SAG's reported decision to spend $75,000 to "educate" dual members
about the AFTRA deal. Reardon and AFTRA national executive director Kim Roberts
Hedgpeth called SAG's tactics "unprecedented interference" and warned "that we
would view any attempt by SAG or its leadership to undermine or interfere with
our ratification process as a violation of both the law and the AFL-CIO
constitution." Summing up SAG's recent course of action, veteran industry
journalist Alex Ben Block, wrote on his Hollywood Today website, "The Screen
Actors Guild is becoming the Hillary Clinton of the Hollywood labor movement.
... Like Hillary Clinton, SAG won't give up even though it has become clear it
can't win the battle on the terms it has laid out. Instead of looking for a
graceful exit, and a deal that will keep its members working and the industry
going, SAG leaders still beat the war drums."
09/06/2008
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