Does anyone know more about the infighting between the two main union factions? I have seen it references to it but there doesn't seem to be much reporting on it specifically.

[–] neuracnu@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I looked into this a bit and didn’t find much.

This is from Wikipedia: The union is perceived as having two factions. The larger faction ("United for Strength") says it is focused on creating job opportunities for members. A second faction ("Membership First") has criticized the current administration for being too quick and soft when it comes to negotiations with studios.

There is reportedly a “unity” coalition between the factions that Astin received backing from (after many years of union service as a board member handling negotiations). He managed to win with 79% of the vote, which is pretty darn decisive.

Chuck Slavin appeared to be his primary opponent who argued Astin was a monied-establishment figure who was out of touch with the non-movie-star working actors who lacked his privilege. Though it seems Slavin had ruffled some feathers online which could have hurt his changed.

That’s what I could find with my phone.

[–] Ilandar@lemmy.today 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Thanks! Most of that I'd already read myself, but the bit about Slavin is new to me. I read this article earlier about Fran Drescher's re-election in 2023 and some of the quotes there made it sound like the rift is quite big, yet it's still difficult to find any detailed reporting on whatever issues the factions have with each other. Maybe this just isn't as interesting to the public as it is to me.