SAG Strike Vote on Hold as Moderates Blast Back at Doug Allen

Crisis reigns within the Screen Actors Guild. As SAG national executive director Doug Allen digs in his heels in reaction to the attempt to oust him, the moderates on SAG’s national board are fighting back. The opposition group Unite for Strength responded Monday to Allen’s letter to the guild’s membership on Sunday by blasting Allen and calling his latest proposal "not a serious effort to get a better deal," in the words of UFS leader Ned Vaughn.

Allen’s letter urged members to accept a meeting with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Televison Producers and suggested sending out the studios’ contract offer for a vote with no official board recommendation. He threatened to send out the strike authorization vote if the national board doesn’t agree with his proposed compromise to make a last-ditch effort to get a better contract offer, but he did not say when he would send out the strike vote.

The board’s moderate faction holds a slight majority of the panel’s 71 seats. Their response Monday insisted once more that Allen must go.

"We firmly believe that SAG needs a change of course and a new captain," the letter stated. "Mr. Allen has held fast to a failed strategy for over half a year, even as members have lost nearly $50 million from working under an expired contract."

Without providing details, the moderates say they are planning "concrete steps" to oust Allen and replace the guild’s negotiating committee.

 

Comments