SAG faction trying to keep power

The group currently holds a slim majority on the 71-member board and dominates the union's negotiating committee, which called the studios' "final offer" inadequate.

But it faces a challenge from a rival faction calling itself "Unite for Strength," which includes "Private Practice" star Kate Walsh and Doug Savant of "Desperate Housewives." They accuse the incumbents of mishandling the contract negotiations and waging a misguided campaign to discredit the smaller actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which recently reached a new three-year contract with the studios.

Carradine said he wasn't sure who was to blame for the falling-out with AFTRA, but praised SAG leaders for holding their ground in negotiations with the studios.

"I do believe [their] positions are fair and valid," he said. "The middle-class actor is a becoming an endangered species."

Membership First, which has made issues affecting so-called middle-class actors a priority issue, opposes merging the two unions, contending that AFTRA has too many nonactors as members. The group's opponents say a merger would end needless sparring and strengthen the guild's bargaining leverage.

--

richard.verrier@latimes.com