Actors’ Union Losing Another Top Executive

Veteran negotiator Sallie Weaver is stepping down after 20 years with the Screen Actors Guild, the fifth senior executive in three months to leave the union.

Weaver, who heads the guild’s contracts department and is one of Hollywood’s most influential labor executives, will leave May 1 to ensure a smooth transition, the union said in a statement Thursday. Weaver will remain to complete negotiations between actors and cable companies.

Weaver, 43, declined to comment. But people who spoke with her about the decision said it was largely prompted by a weariness with the union’s chronic infighting.

In a statement, Peter Frank, SAG’s interim national director, praised Weaver’s efforts to improve the welfare of the union’s 120,000 members.

“Sallie’s departure is a great loss for the guild,” he said.

Longtime SAG activists bemoaned her decision to leave.

“This is a serious wound to the organization,” said Mike Farrell, former “MASH” star.

Paul Christie, president of SAG’s New York division, said he was concerned that other executives would follow Weaver.

“I’m pretty crushed by this,” Christie said. “She’s huge.”

The Princeton, N.J., native joined the guild’s New York office as executive assistant. While taking night classes toward a law degree, Weaver rose to one of the top positions, becoming its deputy national executive director for contracts.

Weaver’s announcement comes five months after newly elected leaders ousted former Chief Executive Greg Hessinger and voided his hiring of three other executives. SAG’s board recently paid Hessinger about $500,000 to avert a lawsuit over his dismissal.

Hessinger’s firing was orchestrated by a guild faction that won control by pledging to take a tougher line in negotiations.