Internal disagreements within Hollywood actors union came out into the open Friday as its members on the other coast bitterly criticized the union leadership over attacks against a smaller sister union.
The disagreements center over a decision by the Screen Actors Guild's Hollywood leadership to launch a campaign against a contract negotiated by the smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).
SAG's national executive committee last week narrowly approved a plan to persuade 44,000 SAG members who also belong to AFTRA to vote down the agreement that AFTRA reached with major movie studios and television companies.
SAG has said the AFTRA accord is inadequate, represents a betrayal of actors and undermines SAG in its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents major movie studios and television companies.
New York members of SAG's national board took the unusual step of openly criticizing their leaders over their decision to launch an "educational campaign" against the draft contract negotiated by AFTRA, according to the Los Angeles Times Friday.
They said in a statement that the action was not authorized by SAG's full board and would waste guild funds, adding that it represented an "unconscionable attempt to interfere with the internal business of a sister union."
SAG's New York division represents about 26,000 of the union's 122,000 members and holds 14 seats on its 71-member national board. Members of the guild's regional branches in Georgia and Chicago have voiced similar objections to the SAG campaign.
Talks between the actors union and studios continued this week with no results, as studio representatives said they were dismayed by a SAG assertion that an agreement was unlikely to be reached before the current labor contract expires on June 30.
SAG President Alan Rosenberg earlier told reporters he did not believe a deal could be struck before the end of the month, blaming the delays on the proposed contract reached last month between the AMPTP and SAG's sister union.
AMPTP officials Thursday issued a statement accusing SAG leadership for its claim that a deal cannot be reached and for its hard-line stance on issues surrounding payment for new media and demand for large increases in compensation for traditional media programming.
Meanwhile, SAG responded with a statement declaring its belief that it is possible to reach an agreement by June 30.
"SAG's negotiating committee has made significant moves in the AMPTP's direction on a number of proposals," the union said.
AMPTP officials said they have made "some progress" in the talks, but the two sides "still far apart on fundamental issues." They encouraged SAG to focus on the negotiations instead of public pickets like a rally the union organized earlier this week.
Meanwhile, officials of AFTRA, the smaller union which represents mostly commercial and television actors, said they may pursue legal action against SAG to prevent it from lobbying AFTRA members against the proposed three-year contract.
Source: Xinhua
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