Actors Guild Dispute Erupts Over Right to Work : Charlton Heston’s Support of Idaho Law Revives Union’s Ideological Split

The simmering ideological dispute that has plagued the Screen Actors Guild for several years boiled over again Wednesday.

The latest flare-up was precipitated by a split in the guild on a right-to-work law referendum on the November ballot in Idaho.

Charlton Heston, former president of the guild and a leader of its conservative wing, has appeared in television commercials endorsing the retention of the law, which was enacted last year.

Additionally, members of Actors Working for an Actors Guild, the union’s conservative faction, are campaigning for the measure in Idaho.

On Wednesday, Patty Duke, current president of SAG, announced that in response to a request from the Idaho AFL-CIO she will do television commercials and make other appearances advocating overturn of the law.

“As a union affiliated with the AFL-CIO for over 50 years, we strongly believe that right-to-work laws are detrimental to a union’s ability to protect workers in all occupations,” Duke said. “These laws are intended to weaken the power of unions by allowing employees to enjoy the hard-won benefits of union contracts without the necessity of joining the union or paying dues to support union services.”

Less than an hour later, Heston held a press conference at his Beverly Hills estate in which he defended his role in the Idaho referendum campaign. “I’m a union man,” he said. But he added that union membership should be voluntary and quoted Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor, on the evils of compelling people to join unions.

In response to repeated questions, Heston said he does not think that right-to-work laws, which exist in 21 states, are detrimental to unions, a view disputed by virtually all union officials.

At a Screen Actors Guild board meeting Monday, a member proposed stripping Heston of his dues-free life membership because of his participation in the right-to-work campaign. In the ads, Heston mentions that he is a former union president. On the advice of a union lawyer, the proposal to strip Heston of his life membership was withdrawn, according to sources who were at the meeting.

Heston said he called his news conference because a representative of the AFL-CIO leaked to the press news of what had occurred at the Monday meeting.

He said the split in the guild is between “those who want us, as a small, very poor union to concentrate on the problems of film actors and those on the board who want to pursue a broad social agenda.”

Heston was asked whether going to Idaho to campaign constituted pursuing “a broad social agenda.” He responded: “No. I’m not on the board and I’m spending my own money on this.” Duke said she also will pay her own way to Idaho.

Ideological disagreements are not new to the guild. During the early 1980s they became particularly bitter when Heston, a staunch ally of President Reagan, clashed with then-SAG President Ed Asner, an outspoken critic of Reagan’s policies in Central America. Asner was succeeded last year by Duke, who has attempted to heal the wounds created by the Heston-Asner battle.

On Wednesday, Heston praised Duke’s efforts “to moderate” the differences that have split the guild in recent years.

“Perhaps we can put this behind us,” Heston said when asked about the rift stemming from the Idaho campaign. But it became clear Wednesday that the split runs deeper than the current right-to-work battle.

Fielded Questions

At her news conference, Duke also fielded questions about another issue dividing the guild. She acknowledged the truth of a report that appeared in Daily Variety, the trade publication, Wednesday that she has asked for an investigation of Mark McIntire, a conservative guild board member.

McIntire has been circulating a memo telling members of the union that court decisions and National Labor Relations Board rulings give them the right to withdraw from the union while deriving union benefits. The memo also contends that, as an alternative, guild members can elect to pay only that portion of their dues that go directly to collective bargaining and membership representation, as distinct from money used for political activities or other such purposes.

Duke declined to elaborate on the McIntire investigation. However, sources at the guild confirmed that she has sent him a letter highly critical of his memo. “It is a blueprint for action to destroy unions by encouraging resignation from membership and attacking the legal requirement that a nonmember must pay dues in order to work under union contract,” the letter states. “We believe the blueprint to be flawed and misleading.”

McIntire, interviewed at Heston’s home, said the investigation of him is an attempt to suppress his free speech rights. Heston characterized the McIntire investigation as “politically inspired.”