Guild tensions mount (THR, VAR, DHD)

By Nancy Tartaglione-Vialatte

SAG is set to hold a rally this morning at its LA headquarters as it enters 25th day of negotiations with the AMPTP. Although SAG is calling the event a "solidarity" rally, others are expected to use the gathering to speak out against the new contract that AFTRA will be sending to members for ratification.

In the meantime, AFTRA president Roberta Reardon plans to meet with AFL-CIO leader John Sweeney to discuss the clash between the two actor unions, which intensified over the weekend.

On Thursday, SAG sent AFTRA a letter asking that its national board vote to delay a ratification vote on the tentative contract. But, AFTRA refused the request Friday, with a source close to the national board saying its members were furious over SAG's letter, calling it "blackmail."

On Friday, SAG's national executive board voted 13-10 to spend $75,000 on educating members about the AFTRA deal.

Instead of postponing the vote, 91% of AFTRA's 76-member board voted in favor of sending the contract to members for ratification. That contract is now expected to be voted on by July 7.

On Sunday, in an e-mail to members, SAG president Alan Rosenberg outlined what he called contract gains that AFTRA did not get, and said that he and the union's negotiators are trying to win for SAG members

Rosenberg also told members that SAG believes the tentative AFTRA deal and its ratification is a distraction that the AMPTP is using "to delay significant progress in our negotiations."

SAG has 120,000 members while AFTRA has 70,000. About 44,000 members are shared between the two and it is those dual cardholders who will be voting on the AFTRA deal that SAG is reaching out to in its efforts to dissuade ratification.

AFTRA in return has cautioned SAG that what it's doing might be illegal.

Reardon told The Hollywood Reporter, "I hope the leadership of SAG put their attention where they need to put it," she added. "I hope they get a better deal than we got. They have (the entire) film world to handle. I hope they succeed, and that that's where their attention should be."

�This is really unfortunate and I�m frankly horrified to see my SAG dues money spent this way,� Reardon told Variety Sunday. �I think SAG should be concentrating on making a deal. And it�s disingenuous of SAG to call it a �solidarity� rally when it�s clear that it will be an anti-AFTRA rally.�

Asked what she hopes to gain in her conversation with the AFL�s Sweeney, Reardon told THR she wanted him to look at "exactly what our contract is, and what are options are. Our lawyers are looking at various situations."