Writers worry about residuals, health care--not who's boss.

WGA member Genie Davis doesn't care much about whether its new president, Charles Holland, fudged his resume. Davis concluded long ago that, "everyone in Hollywood stretches the truth."

The day-to-day dealings of the Writers Guild of America West with its members, however, do rile her.

She's still miffed by what she says was the Guild's failure a couple of years ago to investigate her complaints against a former agent, and its recent decision to tack on a $50 monthly charge for each dependent covered by members' health insurance plan.

"I've paid $3,000 in dues and all I get is to view some movies for free. Outside of that, I don't really have a relationship with the Guild," she said. "A lot of writers I know who have had issues over writing credits and residuals feel the same way."

Davis' dissatisfaction, echoed by other WGA members, comes as the union has been roiled by a shake-up in its elected leadership on the eve of negotiations for a new contract with the major studios.

In January, Victoria Riskin resigned as president of the WGA West after an independent investigator found that her membership eligibility had lapsed in July, three months before she won re-election.

Her successor, former "JAG" producer Charles Holland, has since been dogged by a petition drive to remove him after questions arose about the veracity of his claims about his military service and college football career.

Cheryl Rhoden, the WGA's assistant executive director, refused to comment on either the Riskin or Holland matters.

The events have not only prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor into how the Guild conducts its elections, but have led members--especially "Against All Odds" co-writer Eric Hughes, whose campaign against Riskin sparked the recent controversy--to question the nature of the organization.

Hughes has complained that the Guild won't let members attend board meetings and doesn't provide minutes of those meetings to the membership. Discussions such as one over whether to assist three writers in an arbitration over credits for writing the Tom Cruise blockbuster "The Last Samurai" often take place behind closed doors, even though they are not related to personnel issues, he said. He also said the WGA has stopped distributing financial statements, including the amount of dues collected.

"There is a complete shutdown of communication. You can't get any information if you want it," he said.

Rhoden said members can get board minutes, but that certain details, such as strategies for contract negotiations, are typically kept confidential. While noting that an independent investigator hired by the WGA cleared it of labor law violations, she said the Guild has created a special "governance committee" to provide reforms and will go back to detailing board meetings on its Web site.

Bigger fish to fry

The WGA West has 9,000 members. Most pay an initial fee of $2500 and annual dues of $100, plus 1.5 percent of their earnings on projects covered by the contract with the studios. While separate from the Writers Guild of America East, the two hook up during negotiations of theatrical and television contracts, where the West Coast guild usually takes the lead.

Having its internal politics spill over into the public eye may be an embarrassment, but for many Guild members who spend more of their time on re-writes and pitching scripts, it's more of a trifle.

"In general, the Guild has served me fine," said Jeff Arch, co-writer of "Sleepless in Seattle" and a Riskin supporter.

But there are still sources of frustration.

The Guild's health care system, once considered among the best in the industry in terms of coverage, has become a sore subject.

The WGA has said that the fund was heading toward a deficit, and so it began charging members $50 per month for each dependent covered by the plan, and cutting the number of procedures allowed. That, it claimed, would help boost the fund by $70 million over the next three years.

The WGA and the major studios jointly manage the insurance fund. Writers who show they earned $27,000 in the previous four quarters can get their insurance picked up by the Guild for the next year.

Rhoden acknowledged the burden of the additional levy and said the Guild will address health care as part of its upcoming negotiations with the studios.

Then there are the TV residuals and movie profit-participation streams that give writers an income when they're not working. Some complain that the Guild has done a poor job of tracking these earnings--including the growing income from home video sales. Others complain that the Guild is not supportive enough as they press for residual payments.

Ronald Parker, who along with Hughes instigated the investigation into Riskin's qualifications, wrangled with the WGA last year after asking it to collect the residuals owed for a re-run of the mini-series "Joan of Arc." When the Guild told him that its only evidence--the word of the producer--showed that it had not re-aired, Parker drove over to its offices to present them with a copy of TV Guide with the date and time of the broadcast.

"Doing this stuff right is what the Guild is supposed to do. But it doesn't," said Parker.

Lesley Mackey McCambridge, the WGA's director of residuals, said members don't always realize that residuals may not be immediately due upon an airing of a movie or show. In some cases, they may not be payable until the producer gets a check from the network.

Meanwhile, the system collected $7 million in residual payments from studios last year, and it is being revamped as part of a two-year plan. McCambridge said the union is expanding its tracking systems to monitor airings in different parts of the country, as well as hiring three lawyers to go after tough collection prospects.

It is hard to gauge how restive the membership of the WGA West actually is.

Though both the Guild's leadership and its critics agree the petition to recall Holland is circulating, it is not clear how many members have signed it, and its authorship is one credit no one is battling over.

Rhoden said she heard Hughes and Parker had initiated the drive, but both writers deny it.

"We put our names on everything we do. I've seen the petition and I haven't even signed it," said Parker.