SAG negotiating committee punts strike vote to board

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Recognizing a key shift in the balance of power in the Screen Actors Guild, the union’s negotiating committee late Wednesday recommended to the guild’s national board that it obtain a strike authorization from members.

Although the negotiating committee had the authority to call such a strike vote on its own, the group decided to defer the delicate matter to the board. The 71-member board’s composition changed last month after a group of dissidents won key seats, potentially putting the union on a more moderate course.

The recommendation comes two days after the studios summarily rejected a call by SAG leaders to resume formal bargaining, which ended in early July.

The new board will take up the issue Oct. 18, but it’s not clear whether the newly elected directors will have enough clout to oppose a strike authorization.

-- Richard Verrier