Hollywood Rebel Back Union Dissidents 8/14/08

Tom Hanks, Sally Field and Alec Baldwin have joined a group of high-profile stars supporting rebels keen on taking charge of the Screen Actors Guild union.

The rebels claim union bosses have mishandled contract negotiations with movie studio bosses, prolonging the possibility of a crippling summer strike.

And now they have the backing of heavyweights like Hanks, Baldwin and Field, who have joined a faction calling itself Unite for Strength. According to reports, more than 35 well-known actors are backing the rebels who are fighting for 11 Hollywood division seats on the 71-member national board in the upcoming 18 September (08) union elections.

The stars backing the new movement also include Sarah Michelle Gellar and Patricia Heaton, who says, "The fighting within our union is weakening us at the bargaining table. We obviously need to chart a new course."

The starry faction claims the SAG majority has mismanaged ongoing contract negotiations because they are too busy waging a campaign to discredit the smaller actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, according to the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

AFTRA recently reached an agreement on a new three-year contract with the studios, similar to the one reached by the Writers Guild of America earlier this year (08), which ended a three-month Hollywood writers strike.