Breakaway actors win union gains

Rosenberg's Membership First gained a majority in 2005

A breakaway faction within the Screen Actors Guild has gained a foothold on its ruling body, a win that could help break the deadlock over contract talks.

The Unite for Strength group won six of 11 Hollywood seats up for grabs in the union's national board elections.

The insurgents also won 13 of the 22 alternate board seats in contention.

Unite for Strength blames the current leadership's hardline stance for SAG's failure to reach a new agreement with the major film studios.

Membership First, the faction led by SAG president Alan Rosenberg, won just five seats but still holds a majority on the board's influential Hollywood branch.

The victorious dissidents include Kate Walsh and Amy Brenneman, two stars from Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice.

'Clear choice'

Desperate Housewives cast member Doug Savant and Chicago Hope actor Adam Arkin were also successfully elected on Thursday.

Unite for Strength claim Rosenberg has mishandled contract talks and strained relations with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), SAG's smaller sister union.

"We offered members a clear choice - end the fighting with AFTRA and instead partner with them to create a stronger union for performers," said Ned Vaughn, one of the newly elected alternates.

The Screen Actors Guild, which has 120,000 members, wants more money for actors when their work is released on DVD, plus a greater say in the endorsement of products on-air.

In the absence of a new contract, SAG is still working to the terms of an old deal that expired on 30 June.