SAG Negotiations

The drama within the Screen Actors Guild continues to escalate. Alan Rosenberg, the president of SAG, has been jockeying in court to get a restraining order to prevent further negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. On Tuesday, a Los Angeles judge denied the request, adding that complaint could be filed again if it was amended, citing some errors in the documents.

At the heart of the action is a claim that Doug Allen, the chief negotiator for SAG who was removed last week, was kicked without the proper approval from the SAG board. According to the filing, the removal of Allen required a two thirds majority within the SAG board, and only 53% of board members approved the move.

The court action has stalled further talk to resolve the ongoing labor dispute, set to continue on Tuesday. The court action demands Allen be returned to his post as chief negotiator, and that all contract talks are stopped until this is resolved. The president of the New York Chapter of SAG, Sam Freed, told the press "They are so desperate to hold on to their power that they are willing to burn down their own house."

The group intends to re-file the motion on Thursday. The ongoing battle withing SAG is taking a toll. The 120,000 member union has been working without a contract for seven months, and talks of a strike seem quieted only temporarily. The AMPTP insists that the offer on the table is their final offer, and as time continues to pass, both sides are getting antsy.