SAG Infighting Gets Louder Ahead of Vote on Merger Plan

The latest political drama at the Screen Actors Guild is beginning to look like a rerun of “Family Feud.”

This time around, the fractious actors union is caught up in a star-studded brawl over merger prospects. The issue: whether SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists should be folded into a new super-union that could flex more bargaining muscle with big media conglomerates.

Directors of the two unions overwhelmingly approved the plan in April, sending it to members for a mail-in vote taking place this month. To help sell the plan, which requires 60% of the vote to pass, SAG and AFTRA secured endorsements from such respected actors as Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave and Gregory Peck and union leaders such as John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, and Thomas Short, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Then trouble started.

The proposal -- to consolidate autonomous actor, broadcaster and recording artist unions under a new, 150,000-member umbrella called the Alliance of International Media Artists -- came under an aggressive counterattack by dissidents in a group called Save SAG. They argue that merging the two unions is unnecessary and would diminish SAG’s independence, and that the consolidation plan fails to adequately address health-care, pension and other issues.

“I’m not interested in promises,” says veteran actor and SAG officer Elliott Gould. “There are too many gray areas and too many unanswered questions.”

Supporters counter that the campaign to scuttle the plan is nothing more than a thinly disguised power play by a militant union faction that lost much of its clout in a bitterly fought election last year, when a moderate slate led by Melissa Gilbert of “Little House on the Prairie” fame largely swept former “Rhoda” star Valerie Harper’s group.

Infighting between the two blocs has consumed SAG for nearly four years, exacerbated by a controversial six-month strike against advertisers in 2000 under a more strident administration led by actor William Daniels.

Actors backing consolidation allege that union militants want members to vote down the plan so they can leverage its defeat into a renewed push for control of SAG.

“This is sour grapes,” says actor James Cromwell, who backs the plan. “It’s people who resent that Valerie didn’t win the election who are using this as a springboard to try to retake the board and impose the same sort of dysfunction that we had before.”

The arguments have been picking up volume, with most of the opposition noise coming from the SAG camp rather than the quieter AFTRA, where there is no organized opposition.

Opponents have been picketing SAG’s Wilshire Boulevard headquarters. Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt and veteran actress Shirley Knight, both of whom support consolidation, lashed out at opponents after they erroneously included the women’s names in literature as being against the deal.

The fight even made it to Howard Stern’s radio show this week, with a debate between Gilbert and “Titanic” actress Frances Fisher that was punctuated by raunchy questions from Stern.

Top stars have been lining up on both sides. Among those in the pro-merger camp are Richard Dreyfuss, Nicolas Cage, George Clooney, Danny Glover, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Cromwell and Gilbert.

Merger opponents include Rob Schneider, Holly Hunter, Martin Landau, Charlton Heston, Ed Harris, Marg Helgenberger, Fisher, Gould and SAG Treasurer Kent McCord, one of the main leaders of the fight.

Actor Mike Farrell, a SAG vice president, accuses consolidation opponents of recklessly trying to scare members into believing they will lose their pensions and power.

“It’s a guerrilla war,” Farrell says. “It’s childish and disheartening.”

Fisher disputes that: “This is so far beyond a disgruntled little group of rebels, which is how Mike Farrell characterizes us.

“This isn’t about any election, but our entire union being hijacked. It will create another level of bureaucracy and another level of paid staffs.”

The two unions have talked about merging since the 1930s. The most recent effort was shot down in 1999 by SAG members concerned that their union would come out on the short end.

SAG represents film and prime-time TV actors, whereas AFTRA represents actors in soap operas, news broadcasters, recording artists and such performers as game show hosts. SAG and AFTRA traditionally have divided their turf into two distinct areas: SAG representing actors in projects shot on film, AFTRA representing those performing on videotape.

But the proliferation of digitally recorded programs has opened a fresh battleground between the two unions competing for jurisdiction. Ending that confrontation is one of the key goals of those who propose folding the unions together.

Proponents, behind their motto “Partnership for Power,” also argue that costs would be saved by eliminating administrative overlaps, noting that 44,000 actors now pay dues to be in both unions. Opponents say that the two unions always have worked out disputes, and they challenge the cost savings estimates.

To make the union marriage an easier sell, the plan stops short of past proposals for a full merger. Instead, three independent units -- actors, broadcasters and recording artists -- would operate as affiliates under the banner of a single union.

The stickiest issues seized on by dissidents are pension and health plans, hot buttons among actors because of rising health-care costs.

The plans are administered by trustees representing both union members and studio representatives, and opponents cite qualms expressed by some management trustees that merging the disparate pension and health plans of each union may not result in better benefits for members or in cost savings. Opponents also argue that SAG members could pay a disproportionate share of the costs in a merged plan.

SAG and AFTRA leaders dismiss those concerns as to be expected from studios that don’t want the unions to combine and maintain that merged health and pension plans would make for stronger benefits packages.

Barbara Brogliatti, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a trade group, says that studios are not taking sides in the consolidation debate.

Proponents have been polling members and feel confident they can win. But Alan M. Brunswick, a labor lawyer with the Los Angeles firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, says the 60% threshold makes the outcome a tougher call.

“Because it requires a super-majority, I really don’t know how it will turn out,” Brunswick says. “SAG always seems to surprise people.”

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Behind the scenes

Some of Hollywood’s best-known stars are choosing up sides in the proposal to combine the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists into a 150,000-member super-union. Here are some of the issues and where some of the stars fall.

Arguments for:

* Larger union needed to stand up to media giants growing larger through mergers.

* Costs would be saved because overlapping administrative functions can be eliminated.

* Combined union could offer better pension and health benefits.

* About 44,000 members now pay dues to be members of both unions.

* It would end jurisdictional disputes between SAG and AFTRA over who represents actors in growing digital TV area.

Who is for:

Supporters include: James Cromwell, Mike Farrell, Michael J. Fox, Melissa Gilbert, Helen Hunt, Jane Kaczmarek, Eriq LaSalle, Gregory Peck, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.

Arguments against:

* Larger union wouldn’t translate into more bargaining power.

* Questions remain about the effect on pension and health plans.

* SAG’s autonomy would be threatened.

* A new union would create a bigger bureaucracy and would cost money to create.

* Opponents have been thwarted by the unions in getting their message out to members.

Who is against:

Opponents include: Ed Asner, Army Archerd, Frances Fisher, Elliott Gould, Ed Harris, Marg Helgenberger, Charlton Heston, Holly Hunter, Martin Landau, Kent McCord and Rob Schneider.

Sources: Partnershipforpower.org (for), SaveSAG.org (against)

Los Angeles Times