News Brief

BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL tiff takes ugly turn
Just as the Screen Actors Guild and its smaller sister union American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are jointly preparing to face off against the studios in upcoming contract negotiations, the two actors groups are embroiled in a behind-the-scenes soap opera -- over a soap opera.

The latest episode in the long-standing turf wars between SAG and AFTRA erupted among the cast of the classic CBS daytime drama THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL

For more than 50 years, AFTRA has negotiated contracts for daytime soaps. But AFTRA accuses the leadership of SAG of encroaching on its territory in an attempt to gain jurisdiction of the show. They view it as an effort by SAG to increase its power.

"This is an ongoing campaign by the Screen Actors Guild since last year to discredit AFTRA," said Roberta Reardon, president of AFTRA. "It's very clear they've tried to take this union apart."

Doug Allen, national executive director of SAG, rejects AFTRA's claims and says his union has no designs on organizing daytime dramas. "We're not raiding AFTRA, and the suggestion we are is inaccurate," he said.

The flare-up around B&B comes at a delicate time for both unions. Today, the joint board of AFTRA and SAG is meeting to approve the bargaining proposals that will be presented to the studios in their upcoming negotiations. The unions are expected to seek, among other things, higher pay for their members in the area of new media. If all goes well, the unions are likely to begin talks with the studios by mid-April.

But SAG and AFTRA, which historically have had an uneasy alliance, have been feuding for the last year over the terms of their 27-year joint bargaining pact and other issues. SAG has been looking to change the terms of the partnership. The bigger union, which has 120,000 members compared with AFTRA'S 70,000, objects to equal voting rights in the agreement even though SAG actors account for most of the earnings.

The Hatfields and McCoys-like sniping got so out of hand that John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, met with leaders of both guilds and urged them to resolve their differences before starting negotiations with the studios. The AFL-CIO, to which both SAG and AFTRA belong, bars unions from raiding each other.

The latest skirmish is now occurring on the set of B&B, the second-highest-rated daytime drama. AFTRA officials are furious that Allen and SAG President Alan Rosenberg held a private meeting with two actors from the show at which the cast members complained bitterly about AFTRA representation.

After the actors aired their grievances, Allen said, he advised them "to go to AFTRA and have those conversations with them."

AFTRA officials were upset at SAG for not telling them about the meeting until two weeks after the fact, according to Reardon. Allen dismissed the concern, saying "I don't know why SAG is being held accountable for complaints by AFTRA members about AFTRA."

The early March meeting was requested by the B&B actors, including Susan Flannery, who plays the matriarch of the fashion dynasty at the center of the show. Flannery, a regular on B&B since its inception in 1987, is leading an effort to decertify AFTRA as the union representing the actors on the series by circulating a petition, AFTRA officials said.

The petition would have to be submitted to the National Labor Relations Board, which would hold a secret ballot if it were signed by at least 30% of the employees. Flannery and other cast members believe they would earn better pay and benefits under SAG. Flannery, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment. That doesn't sit well with some high-profile AFTRA members, who say the show would be weakened if it came under another union's jurisdiction.

"If they raided this show and other shows it would be a disaster," said veteran soap star Don Hastings, who plays Dr. Bob Hughes on AS THE WORLD TURNS. He said SAG has no experience negotiating daytime contracts, which would put the show in jeopardy at a time when audiences for soaps are declining and the networks are cutting budgets.

Both Reardon and Allen say they agree on one thing: Their unions need to be well prepared to jointly negotiate a new contract with the studios. But Reardon says SAG's actions do not always suggest unanimity. "How can we be expected to sit side-by-side in a joint negotiation with a union that is actively raiding us?"

Allen says AFTRA's concerns are unfounded. The two unions, he said, just completed two days of "productive and successful" meetings to finalize their joint proposals.

"It was an example of union solidarity."

ATWT's Van Hansis interviews Jake Silbermann


Scott Reeves band performs at AFTERdark
This week blue T-shirts are being sported throughout the campus of Pittsburg State University. The shirt describes AFTERdark, a night of music, motivation and evangelism provided by one of the nation's top touring campus ministry groups. The event is being held at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, in the Weede Physical Education building. Free and open to the public, AFTERdark will feature the country music band Blue County, which will perform its hit single "Good Little Girls," and also acclaimed inspirational speaker Joe White. Blue County is a country music duo from Nashville. The duo are Aaron Benward and Scott Reeves, who has appeared on the soap operas THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

Working on RIVER CITY is much better than EASTENDERS, says Louise Jameson
Former EASTENDER Louise Jameson claims she had to come to Scotland for work after giving London Beeb chiefs a rollicking for sacking her from Albert Square. The 56-year-old actress let rip at EASTENDERS chiefs after they sacked her from her role as fiesty matriarch Rosa Di Marco seven years ago. And she admits the outburst may have put some producers off seeing her for parts - RIVER CITY bosses aside, who have cast her as a hairdresser. The softly-spoken actress, who will make her debut in the Scottish soap next week, told how she let rip at Easties gaffers after learning about her sacking from the show in the Press. She said: "I made my feelings very clear to them after they went to the papers before coming to the cast. That's probably why I haven't worked for the BBC in seven years. Perhaps that's why I had to come over the Border for work. But it was utterly outrageous. The old producer wanted me to stay for another couple of years, and then the new one came on board and wanted the Di Marco family out of Albert Square as quickly as possible. You expect changes, I realise that, and I'm well aware that changes are made. I was caught up in the sweep of that new broom, and I've been in the business long enough to know that's how things work. It was the way it was handled that I took objection to."

EASTENDER Sid 'cried for Frank'
EASTENDERS star Sid Owen has revealed that he cried for real while filming the funeral of his screen dad Frank Butcher. Speaking to The Sun Sid - who is returning to the soap as Ricky Butcher - revealed that when the scenes were shot he was still grieving for Mike Reid, who died of a heart attack last summer, and that the fictional funeral had a profound effect on him. "Normally when the camera’s not rolling you have a laugh," he said, "but this was different," he said. "For me and some of the actors who were close to Mike, like Barbara Windsor, who plays Peggy, and Pam St Clement, who plays Pat, it was different because it was real life, it happened.It was our way of saying goodbye to Mike."