July 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Screen Actors Guild is facing a revolt in Hollywood by a group of actors seeking control of the local over dissatisfaction with deadlocked labor negotiations.

``Life'' star Adam Arkin and Kate Walsh of ``Private Practice'' are among 31 dissidents seeking control of the Hollywood branch and a bigger role nationally, the group called Unite for Strength said late yesterday in an e-mailed statement.

Unite blames the guild's current leadership for a rift between SAG and the smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which ratified a contract with studios on July 8. Failure of the two unions to negotiate together weakened the guild's position at the bargaining table, the group said.

``There is substantial discontent with the direction of the leadership,'' Steve Diamond, a professor of labor law at Santa Clara University School of Law, in Santa Clara, California, said in an interview. A new labor agreement before the election was unlikely even before the dissidents emerged, he said.

Guild spokeswoman Pam Greenwalt declined to comment on the group's statement. An official list of candidates will be released about Aug. 5, after the union has confirmed the eligibility of nominees, she said.

Formal talks between the studios and the guild ended June 30, when the companies' Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers made a ``final offer.'' Since then the alliance has met with guild leaders to answer questions about the offer while refusing to resume negotiations.

Ballots

Ballots for board voting are due Sept. 18, said Ned Vaughn, a leader of Unite and one of the candidates. Vaughn's credits include ``Frost/Nixon.'' The film, scheduled for release in December, is about television host David Frost's interviews with former President Richard Nixon.

All 33 seats on the board of the Hollywood branch are up for election, Vaughn said. The 11 top vote-getters automatically become members of the SAG national board. The rest become alternates, he said.

The Directors Guild of America approved a contract earlier this year, as did the Writers Guild of America, after a three- month strike that began in November. Those contracts and Aftra's provide pay raises and union protections for some Internet productions.

Members of the studio alliance include Time Warner Inc., Walt Disney Co., News Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, Viacom Inc., CBS Corp., Sony Corp. and Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer Inc.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 24, 2008 14:08 EDT