When this post goes live, SAG-AFTRA will officially be joining WGA on the picket lines. The last time our two unions were on strike together was 1960, back when Ronald Reagan was president of SAG. You know what we got that strike? “Landmark provisions on residuals, pension, and health funds.” So basically, it changed the course of how we get compensated in Hollywood.
Not to sound dramatic (okay, I will sound dramatic from time-to-time, I’m a writer who has been on strike for 71 days!), but this feels like we’re now on the frontlines of history. I’m a strike captain and an assistant lot coordinator at CBS Radford. I was standing next to fellow captains and members of our Neg-Com. It felt monumental as we heard Fran Drescher’s iconic voice explain why SAG had no choice but to call for a strike. Turns out AMPTP showed them the same disrespect that they showed us. Well now it’s time to show the AMPTP what a force our two unions are together.
I don’t know what tomorrow, the next few weeks, or even the next few months looks like. What I do know is there’s a lot of frustrated and fed up people who would rather give up a paycheck than continue to get the scraps we’ve been given. From the public response, it feels like this labor movement is coming for everybody (#hotlaborsummer)
Earlier this week, there was Deadline Hollywood article in which an anonymous source said the end-game of the strike was to make writers “lose their homes”, and deemed it a “necessary evil.” I’m not going to link to the article because it was such a clear scare tactic and irresponsible “journalism".” However, whatever the article hoped to gain: fear, anxiety, in-fighting, etc… the exact opposite happened. We rallied, we came together, and now we have a union of 170,000 people coming to join the fight. It’s exciting. It feels like the calvary is coming, and for us writers who have been pounding the now-very-hot pavement, this is much-needed.
It’s scary to be on strike. I’ve been managing pretty well, but this week I’ve had a hard time sleeping and have felt more anxiety than I’ve felt in a long time. But I remain hopeful. If there’s one thing I know about writers and actors, we’re resilient as f*ck.
Happy Hot Strike Summer, everybody. Let’s hope for fair deals soon. xoxo