The national board of the Screen Actors Guild seems to be determined to go ahead pressing on with plans for a strike authorization vote, but after a marathon 30-hour meeting on Tuesday afternoon, a group of board members failed in an attempt to oust the 120,000-member union’s lead contract negotiator and national executive director, Doug Allen.
The former NFL Players Association official is accused of having mishandled negotiations with the studios and deepened divisions inside the union that have eventually weakened SAG's situation at the bargaining table. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represent the movie studios, made no statements regarding the matter.
A coalition of Screen Actors Guild board members introduced a resolution calling for Doug Allen to be fired but his backers are working on blocking a vote on his ouster.
This was the latest sign of turmoil in a union that has a history full of internal strife and warring among its members.
The 120,000-member guild had planned to send out strike authorization ballots by Wednesday, but it was suggested that this would not happen that quickly. Last year, a 100-day strike by writers reduced the Golden Globe Awards to a news conference. Nevertheless, no vote was taken on a motion that would have removed Allen, because it lacked sufficient signatures and other technical reasons, according to the guild.
A strike vote requires 75 percent support from voting members to succeed. If it is approved, the SAG national board can go ahead with the strike they want so much.
Allen, who has a year left in his $500,000-a-year contract signed for three years, is not expected to give his up on his position without a fight. Among the possible candidates to replace him is John McGuire, a veteran labor negotiator and at the moment senior advisor to the guild.
The union was supposed to mail out strike authorization ballots on the 2nd of January, but the vote was delayed after serious protest from New York board members, who complained that the moment for a strike could not have been worse because of the recession. They received support from more than 130 high-profile actors including George Clooney and Tom Hanks. On the other hand, famous actors such as Martin Sheen, Mel Gibson or Edward Asner, have strongly backed the referendum.
The actors’ guild is trying to make the union pay for all web productions irrespectively of their budget and continued benefits during the moments when work was stopped, including those given rise to by other unions’ strikes.
SAG is the only Hollywood union left that has not signed a new contract with the conglomerates after negotiations with the studios stalled earlier this year. The actors have been working without a contract since the previous one expired on the 30th of June.
