All Quiet on the Western...Flank?

No new developments of any note on this, Day 2 of what will likely be the most inconsequential strike in decades...

There’s not much being reported on the first full day of the WGA – SAG-AFTRA strike. Perhaps because it was due to it being a Saturday, typically a slow news day. That doesn’t mean there weren’t other developments worth mentioning (even if they occurred days before it officially began).

There was nothing new from Variety, or The Hollywood Reporter, but DEADLINE was a treasure trove of material. Enjoy!

While the 74-day-old WGA strike has been an ‘annoyance’ for entertainment companies, in the view of one Wall Street analyst, the SAG-AFTRA walkout will be ‘much more disruptive.’

I have no doubt that this is true. What is unknown is for how long this might be the case. The actors and actresses likely won’t abandon their union brothers and sisters in the WGA because they’re suffering financially, but because these are people who have difficulty not being sought after to play, “let’s pretend” for an obscene sum of money.

I’m guessing that when they bolt, this is more the reason why.

‘Now, TV and movie filming grinds to a halt,’ the analyst wrote.

The timing will affect many of this coming season’s scheduled scripted dramas on TV, which may ironically drive even more viewers to streaming services, where lead times can be 1–2 years for episodic series and hence won’t be affected until next year.

I’m having a hard time seeing the problem, here.

There was a time when organized labour served a purpose. In the early days of the industrial revolution, ownership, and later management, shamelessly exploited their workers. There needed to be a force to counter such an inequitable advantage, thus, workers organized. The best film to tell this story is not Norma Rae, nor is it, Hoffa – rather, it is F.I.S.T.

My view of organized labour is as dim as it can possibly be, but that doesn’t mean that I regard management as without fault. This is because corporate management has revealed itself to be as ruthless and amoral as any Tammany Hall politician. Neither side has the moral high ground in any labour dispute as the forebears of both sides were happy to resort to violence each against the other.

There are no good guys, here.

Regardless of whether SAG-AFTRA goes on strike this week, the studios have no intention of sitting down with the Writers Guild for several more months.

‘I think we’re in for a long strike, and they’re going to let it bleed out,’ said one industry veteran intimate with the POV of studio CEOs.

While some dismiss this as just ‘cynical strike talk,’ studio and streamer sources around town confirm the strategy. They also confirm that the plan to grind down the guild has long been in the works for a labor cycle that all sides agree is a game-changer one way or another for Hollywood.

‘It’s been agreed to for months, even before the WGA went out,’ one executive said. ‘Nobody wanted a strike, but everybody knew this was make or break.’

So, there is a date…

With the scribes’ strike now finishing its 71st day and the actors’ union just 30 hours from a possible labor action of its own, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are planning to dig in hard this fall before even entertaining the idea of more talks with the WGA…’Not Halloween precisely, but late October, for sure, is the intention,’ says a top-tier producer close to the Carol Lombardini-run AMPTP.

Well, like the rank-and-file of other labour unions that are not essential to everyday life, the leadership are playing them for chumps. They’re going to let their members suffer, and then return to the negotiating table, go through the motions of bargaining hard for the union’s position, then capitulate to the studios’ terms.

The new collective bargaining agreement will then be hailed as transformational to the industry, the members will ratify it, and the union leadership will be able to give themselves raises, while the remaining members who haven’t secured employment elsewhere will scramble to catch up before the eviction notices or foreclosure documents are served.

‘The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,’ a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it ‘a cruel but necessary evil.’

“…a cruel and necessary evil.” I’m reminded of the NYT’s propagandist Walter Duranty, who blatantly killed the stories of Stalin’s Holodomor¹ in Ukraine and instead submitted outright lies. For some background, and if you don’t necessarily need to feel good afterward, view the film, Mr. Jones.

The severe method comes out of the guild’s successful battle with the agencies in 2021 over dismantling the lucrative practice of packaging. The WGA picked off one agency after another until final holdout WME backed down, a tactic seen as a warning sign by many in the studio and streamer C-suites.

The Hollywood serfs will learn the hard way that what they do is not without value, but it’s hardly one on which virtually everyone is dependent. Y’know which unions’ members rarely ever strike (largely because they don’t have to)? Cops, firefighters, and especially trash and garbage collectors. No one can really go for more than a few days without trash pick-up.

If I didn’t know better, and if I didn’t know how it would end, I’d conclude that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA negotiators have been taking tips from congressional Republicans.

I found this headline and the story to be truly hilarious!

On the first day of its strike and to ensure safe, legal and peaceful picking, SAG-AFTRA has told its members not to bring weapons, engage in violence or threats or come drunk or stoned to the picket lines.

What the hell kind of industry employs people who, as members of its unions, must be reminded to not show up drunk, stoned, or carrying weapons to the picket lines? I can’t help but wonder if these same guidelines apply when on the job…

The guild asks members to review and observe its picketing guidelines, which include:

·     Don’t engage in violence or threats. Avoid confrontations.

·     Don’t bring weapons. Do not carry sticks (other than picket sticks), toy guns, laser pointers, or any object which may be used as or perceived as a possible weapon.

·     Don’t use derogatory language or profanity or attempt to intimidate others.

·     Don’t disrupt ongoing traffic (for example, do not have anyone drop you off or pick you up on the curb).

·     Don’t use alcohol or other intoxicating substances at the picketing site, or participate under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicating substances.

·     Don’t block ingress or egress to facilities/studios, don’t block sidewalks.  Look out for cars and be very careful to allow sufficient clearance for people to pass on sidewalks and cars to pass through driveways. Don’t block/crowd any public transportation stops or intersections.

·     Don’t damage property.

·     Don’t litter.

·     Don’t speak to the press on behalf of SAG-AFTRA. Forward any press inquiries to pamela.greenwalt@sagaftra.org and stephanie.wright@sagaftra.org

·     Don’t speak to the police or to managers about the strike. Direct them to picket captains or other leadership. BEWARE of seemingly innocuous questions. Even proper statements may be misconstrued, and it may be a trap designed to elicit a statement in violation of labor law.

·     Do assume you are always being recorded. Be mindful of anything you post on social media. Guidelines for social media conduct can be found HERE.

·     Do follow all parking and traffic rules, and all other laws.

·     Do get all signs and other materials cleared by SAG-AFTRA staff. Please return signs to the check-in table before leaving the line.

·     Do follow instructions from SAG-AFTRA staff and picket captains. Their job is to keep the picket line safe, legal, and effective.

·     DO have fun! Keep moving, walking, dancing with your signs up and down the sidewalks. Feel free to start a chant or a song. Just because it’s important doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.

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It’s almost as if the dispatches write themselves.

I’m just two days in to “covering” it like a citizen “journalist” might, and all I’m doing is finding the most interesting stories already written by others who are closer to being actual journalists² than am I.

My contribution is some commentary that may or may not resonate with my twenty-seven subscribers, to each of whom I am more grateful than I can ever express.

Thank you, dear reader, for your time and indulgence.

Until next time…

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalist
(I know – I found it funny as hell, too)