AFTRA’s Reardon: Merge, not purge

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Hollywood’s smaller actors union delivered a not-so-subtle message to its larger sister union on Friday: We’re not going to carve up our membership.

Roberta Reardon, president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, said that she supported the concept of merging with the Screen Actors Guild, but not if it means AFTRA jettisoning its non-actor members as some have suggested.

‘I welcome the discussion, but it’s all of us or none of us,’ Reardon said during a media briefing at the union’s headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard. ‘We’re not holding a yard sale on AFTRA’s membership.’’

AFTRA supported two previous attempts to merge the unions, but both efforts failed amid heavy opposition from some SAG members in Hollywood, in part because of concerns that they would have little in common with those AFTRA members who aren’t actors. The union has more than 70,000 members, who include not only actors, but also broadcasters and recording artists.

The unions last year suspended their longstanding joint bargaining partnership after a bitter dispute over bargaining strategy and jurisdiction. The feud severely weakened SAG’s leverage at the bargaining table and deeply divided the union, which is now dominated by a group of actors who favor a merger. SAG’s President Alan Rosenberg and his supporters, staunch critics of AFTRA, have fiercely opposed the idea.

Reardon left open the possibility that the two unions might revive their bargaining partnership for the next round of film and TV negotiations, but said no discussions had been scheduled. Don’t expect anything to happen until after elections this fall, however, when Rosenberg’s term expires.

‘They need to figure this out,’’ Reardon said.

-- Richard Verrier