The International Cinematographers Guild, IATSE Local 600, has temporarily suspended president Gary Dunham from office as it pursues claims of misconduct in office, sources said Monday.
The action against Dunham, including the filing of four union "charges," took place Sunday during a meeting of the national executive board.
National vp Tom Weston has replaced Dunham ahead of a July 8 union "trial" that either will be conducted by the executive board or the union's 5,700 members, sources said.
National executive director Bruce Doering declined comment on the matter, as did Dunham.
In a recent interview, Dunham said he expected his political rivals to file the claims in a bid to remove him from office. In that sense, he said, the showdown was a continuation of the tensions generated by the surprise sweep of his slate in the April 2004 election.
Dunham and his Coalition for a Democratic Union vowed to take a more aggressive stance against runaway production and give members more say in union governance. Dunham's term is up next year.
The executive board is deeply split between Dunham's party and their rivals, who have a slight majority and therefore were able to remove the president from office.
Sources said the "charges" against Dunham included a claim that he failed to issue an agenda for a general membership meeting and that he allowed a letter to be posted on the union's Web site urging members to vote down IATSE's Hollywood Basic Agreement.
The letter is believed to be the most serious issue.
Members of Local 600 helped lead the unprecedented effort to defeat the Basic Agreement in what was essentially a revolt against IATSE president Tom Short. The principle complaint was that the contract would, for the first time, allow a director of cinematography to also serve as camera operator, eliminating that job in certain situations.
The letter posted on Local 600's Web site, which was written by members and others, urged members to vote "no" in the contract ratification out of respect for camera operators, sources said.
In the end, the campaign failed as more than two-thirds of the members of 17 IATSE locals that work under the Hollywood Basic Agreement approved the new contract in March.
Jesse Hiestand writes for The Hollywood Reporter.
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