SAGWatch – Observing the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA

Yesterday, Unite for Strength asked members to contact them with opinions on the now delayed Strike Authorization Referendum. 

The Allens response was to fire away more e-mails seeking support for the strike authorization and claiming that a strike would not shut the town down. 

This morning, the Los Angeles Times has a story that UFS will seek to replace the TV-Theatrical negotiating “team” – which presumably means the negotiators (the Allens) and the negotiating committee.

It doesn’t name sources for the story, and the only quote from UFS is:

“Obviously, the board has to consider withdrawing the strike authorization given what’s happening, and we may need to shake things up to get what we need,” said Unite for Strength spokesman Ned Vaughn, who serves as an alternate member of the national board.

It also quotes Ann-Marie Johnson as saying:

“To want to fire your lead negotiator, whose only fault is that he’s trying to get the best possible contract he can get, baffles the mind.” 

Still unresolved is whether the January board meeting, at which the action could take place, will actually have to be face to face, or whether New York and RBD members can attend via phone or internet, as seems to be allowed under California law. Unite for Strength would need RBD and New York support for any move to oust the Allens, and the face to face requirement often allows Hollywood-based Membership First to delay close votes until after New York and RBD members have left meetings to catch their flights home.

Update: Variety chimes in with an almost confirmation from Ned Vaughn. 

“The board has a choice to make — either go ahead with the strike authorization vote or move in a new direction,” he told Daily Variety.”