SAG Strike Backburnered as Internal Fighting Continues
Alan Rosenberg
Don't look for that Screen Actors Guild strike to happen anytime soon.
The group had planned to resume negotiations with studios Tuesday in the hopes of winning contract concessions to avoid a strike.
But those talks have been delayed by SAG's latest internal fight: Guild President Alan Rosenberg and SAG first Vice President Anne-Marie Johnson are going to court to demand the reinstatement of ousted Executive Director Doug Allen, who had hoped for a January vote on whether to authorize the strike.
Hours after Rosenberg and Johnson submitted a notice of intent Monday to sue the guild, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers released a statement saying talks will be rescheduled, The Wrap reported.
Rosenberg and Johnson led a 28-hour filibuster last month to prevent SAG's moderate majority from firing Allen. The moderates then gathered signatures from 53 percent of the board to fire Allen on Jan. 26, saying he had mismanaged contract negotiations.
The best-case scenario for proponents of a strike — part of a group called Membership First — would be a judge issuing an early ruling calling for Allen's reinstatement. But even if that happened, it could lead to weeks of appeals and further efforts to remove him.
Former SAG general counsel David White is serving as interim executive director, and John McGuire has been named the union's new chief negotiator.
Ned Vaughn, a spokesman of the moderate Unite for Strength faction, said attempts to reinstate Allen were out of step with the guild's 120,000 members.
"It seems to matter more to Membership First that they retain control of the guild rather than getting this contract negotiated and SAG members back to work," Vaughn told Variety. "This isn't what members are looking for from their elected leaders."
Guild actors have been working without a contract since last summer, when the last contract expired.
What do you think? Is SAG's internal feuding hurting efforts to get actors the best possible contract?
