Although it was scheduled to hold a "solidarity" rally in Los Angeles this morning (Monday), the Screen Actors Guild was being accused of disruptive tactics aimed at dominating union affairs in the industry in general and those of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in particular. "SAG Goes to War Against AFTRA," headlined Daily Variety, citing SAG's efforts to encourage members who hold joint membership in AFTRA to vote down the recent pact signed by AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Reporting on SAG's strategy the Los Angeles Times accused the union of "attempting to throw a monkey wrench" into the agreement with AFTRA. The newspaper quoted Paul Christie, a former president of SAG's New York local and a current member of the union's national board, as saying, "Asking dual cardholders to vote down a contract for one of the unions that they work under is possibly the most idiotic course to date." Today's Hollywood Reporter said that AFTRA President Roberta Reardon is planning to discuss SAG's reported decision to spend $75,000 to "educate" dual members about the AFTRA deal. Reardon and AFTRA national executive director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth called SAG's tactics "unprecedented interference" and warned "that we would view any attempt by SAG or its leadership to undermine or interfere with our ratification process as a violation of both the law and the AFL-CIO constitution." Summing up SAG's recent course of action, veteran industry journalist Alex Ben Block, wrote on his Hollywood Today website, "The Screen Actors Guild is becoming the Hillary Clinton of the Hollywood labor movement. ... Like Hillary Clinton, SAG won't give up even though it has become clear it can't win the battle on the terms it has laid out. Instead of looking for a graceful exit, and a deal that will keep its members working and the industry going, SAG leaders still beat the war drums."
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