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What’s being described as the ”final mass picket of the strike” will be held at the Magic Kingdom headquarters on Thursday. I’m sure Bob Iger and Mickey are thrilled. (Picketers, don’t forget your mouse ears…)
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I will summon the ghosts of Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin to appear from the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. The two yippies will organize all of you and together you will be able to levitate the Team Disney building, which is what they tried to do at the Pentagon in 1967. You might remember the famous photo of a hippie placing a flower in the rifle barrel of a National Guardsman. It won a Pulitzer Prize. You can place a pencil in the gun barrel of a Disney Security Guard. Guaranteed to make the front page of Variety.
Morgan, if you want writers to listen to your appeal, you might try also exhorting the studio execs to understand the plight of thousands and do what they can to end this. Yeah, sure, you mention both sides should act like adults, but all you are doing is telling the writers to take any deal to help you back to work… how about telling the studios to take a deal that would make the writers happy? After all, it’s the studios who threw you out of work not the writers. Why aren’t you reminding the studio execs that if they think the writers are so unimportant, why aren’t they writing the stuff to keep you in business? I’m actually one of the little people myself who is getting hurt but trying to guilt the writers into making any kind of a deal WHEN THERE IS ANOTHER SIDE WHO COULD JUST AS EASILY MAKE A FAIR DEAL and you are not guilting them isn’t a way to get anyone to listen to your plgith.
Does anyone else think it’s total crap that the writers won’t get to actually VOTE on the deal BEFORE the strike is ended?
WTF?????
We’re the ones who have been on the lines for three months. Can’t we at least wait another week to let US THE WRITERS decide if it’s a good deal before the strike ends????
Once the strike is over, nobody’s going to actually read the deal. Everyone will vote yes.
Something smells fishy.
It’s our union and I want it back.
To anyone still harboring any illusion about it: The strike is over. Unless something goes south to an astonishing degree during this last day of getting tentative contract language down on paper before the weekend, the leadership has already made its decision. Although a membership vote will be required to ratify the new contract when it’s finished, no vote is required for them to call off the strike, and none will be taken before they do so.
If you haven’t caught on yet, we are now the ones being “managed” by leadership — not the media, not public perception, but us, the rank and file of the Guild. This happens at the end of any strike; it has to, given that the gains realized in the end are always less then the demands that were trumpeted in the beginning to rally the troops.
These meetings on Saturday are sales meetings, pure and simple. Yes, leadership is going to “listen to the members,” in the sense that members will speak, and Patric, David, et al. will listen while they speak. But they’re also going to make the PR presentation/sales pitch to us that they’ve really come there to make — and afterward, probably sometime on Sunday, they’re going to announce that having listened attentively to all the various feelings and viewpoints expressed by the members at the meetings, they’ve decided to send everybody back to work while the contract is being finalized. And that will be that.
I don’t have any inside knowledge about any of the above, either; I just have a slightly better grasp of how the world works than some people appear to. If those of you in the “Strike ‘Til June” crowd sincerely believe that coming to the meeting and raising your voices is going to change the pre-ordained outcome…well, give it a shot, but be prepared for a thoroughly disappointing weekend. This train has already left the station; you just don’t realize you’re on it yet.
(If I’m wrong, I will come back here on Monday and post a detailed, shamefaced admission of exactly how wrong I was. But don’t hold your breath waiting for that in the meantime….)
Has anyone else noticed how much Bob Iger looks like Bob Saget in this picture?
There is no doubt that outrage is simmering among the 1200 or so WGA members who regularly picket. As details of the proposed settlement trickle out, it becomes abundantly clear to us that this deal is absolute mediocrity, and in spirit nearly an outright capitulation. We are surrendering the future with a resigned sigh that this is the best that can be had under the circumstances. My fear? That members’ outrage extends no farther than those on the picket line. My hope? That there is silent majority out there, who, while they do not walk the line our speak out, will share our disgust at this crummy deal and VOTE IT DOWN.
If this happens, the AMPTP will be faced with a disturbing new reality. It is no longer our leaders whom they are up against, but the WGA membership at large, a far more fearsome opponent, and one far less easy to blame and bully.
As for the IATSE members who are facing hardship, if not financial ruin, I say stop blaming us and blame instead those who triggered this strike with their stubborn greed.
JOIN US ON THE LINE!
On the one hand, sometimes you have to cut your losses.
On the other hand, if the contract isn’t a good one, at least make the strike last until the Oscars. No way should the WGA let the industry get away with having a normal Oscars ceremony if the industry isn’t respecting the people who created the embryos that turned into the Oscar-nominated movies.
I hope it’s almost over. Some of the writers I’m seeing on here, and other posts, give me the impression they would rather keep striking if the perfect deal isn’t made. All I would like to see is that the studios are interested in meeting somewhere in the middle; even if it’s not the best deal ever. They have millions maybe even billions. I think they could hold out longer than most writer’s few hundred or few thousand dollar savings. I highly respect the writers and their efforts, but sometimes you have to go a little more than halfway to make something work. I think most writers want to get back to work and would accept a less than perfect deal. Don’t be mad at the writers. The AMPTP are the ones who waited so long to negotiate. They had a different agenda. This was the studio’s excuse to wipe the slate of contracts they regret signing. Now that it’s getting close to the award shows that are important to them; they run back to negotiate. It was never about greed. The studios just wanted to regroup and the writer’s were the fall guys. Let’s go back to work.
Morgan – your post is very thoughtful and well taken. But you have to realize that on the labor side, it is absolutely impossible to make a stand against managment that does not have collateral damage.
Impossible.
It is incredibly unfortunate, but also part of the devicive plan of managment that weakens all laborers.
“Take our crappy deal because others are suffering!”
If writers, actors, directors, auto workers, teachers, nurses…anyone who had to go on strike to get treated fairly…only did so if there was no collateral damage, workers would have nothing.
This is why unity by workers is so important. It’s why the feud between the DGA and WGA might just be the most destructive flaw of the strike.
Imagine if you will, if the DGA refused to negotiate SEVEN MONTHS IN ADVANCE? The AMPTP could not have used their stall tactic. They would have HAD to negotiate with the WGA.
The DGA are fools for doing what they did. It made their deal worse, the writers deal worse, and undercut the power of the unions just so they could look like grownups and snuggle up to the bosses.
Honestly, I think if the AMPTP were stuck in dealing with the DGA, this would have been over by Christmas.
That fact, is also not your fault.
But instead of arguing that strikes need to be limited by the collateral damage they cause, it would be better to argue that the unions must balance the power with their employers so that a negotiation had urgency, and yields real results.
What if all the unions could negotiate under an umbrella organization like the AMPTP? Do the companies have interests more diverse than the unions? No, I don’t think so.
Imagine if the unions had the power to strike together, just as the companies have the power to lock out together?
The power would be balanced. Negotiations would be real. And I bet, there’d be no strikes and pretty fair deals.
And while SAG and WGA have that de facto solidarity, the bad blood with IATSE and DGA weakened everyone.
And maybe that is all the WGA’s fault. I don’t know.
But no matter the result of this strike, I think the next three years must absolutely must result in a new day of relationships between the guilds. They must be able to act and support each other as one…just like these bitter enemies on the other side manage to do.
The guilds have to realize that no matter what their differences, they all get screwed if they don’t support each other.
Multi-millionare conglomerates who would sell their grandmothers to screw each other realize this.
Why can’t the talent community figure it out?
Without unity, there is no power. Without power, you get a long strike full of games and manipulation and lies that eventually work.
And people like you, Morgan, and your husband, are caught on the short end with nothing.
In the words of a “Great King,” “Can’t we all just get along?”
I feel that there will be a lot of noise when the deal is released for all to see, writers frustrated with leadership for bending over after such an extended work stoppage, people more furious with moguls for twisting the shit knife, but when it comes down to it a and a vote is taken, the writers will buckle and take WHATEVER is given to them because they’re DESPERATE to get back to work. It’s guaranteed, regardless the vitriol that spills out in chat rooms, post boards, and in the streets. It’s either that, or the guild runs the risk of the Producers accomplishing what they set out to accomplish at the beginning: jeopardizing the union’s very existence.
Saturday marks the end of the strike…and it won’t be a victory, merely a defeat that will result in them returning to work.
This makes me SO NERVOUS! Getting our hopes up, then dashing them is the classic tactic used by the AMPTP. If the strike is over, great. But assuming it is, letting hope take precedence over reason, is SO DANGEROUS.
I agree with Morgan. Can you guys just shut the F#uk up! If you believe in your “leaders” who are in there fighting for you, then let them “do” there jobs. All of you and yes that means both sides need to CHILL-OUT!
If you were kids and that is the way you are acting <you would be on (time out) BIG TIME! Just for the behavior you are displaying. YOu all only care about yourselves and not the crew, so STOP THE BS NOW! THE CREW MEANS NOTHING TO YOU! WE ALL KNOW THIS,yet we will be back at work. Do not make this already horrible situation worst. WHT IS NO ONE FROM THE WRITERS SIDE IS POSITIVE? WHY IS IT THAT “IF” SOME SEEMLY “GOOD” NEWS THAT THE STRIKE “MAYBE” CLOSE TO BEING OVER, YOU CAN’T BE HAPPY? DO YOU LOVE “WAR”, BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WILL HAPPEN. KNOW ONE WILL WIN AND ESPECIALLY THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE CAMERA. ALL THAT HAVE POST ON HERE “CLAIM” TO CARE ABOUT THE CREW, YEAH RIGHT”. GOT NEWS FOR YOU “NO” ONE BELIEVES YOU. I WILL NOT POST ON HERE AGAIN. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SO PROUD TO BE APART OR THE ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS. YOU GUYS MAKE US ALL LOOK SO PETTY IN THESE TRYING TIMES THAT OUR COUNTRY IS FACING..SAD BUNCH OF PEOPLE.THERE ARE “GOOD” PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS, YET THEY ARE A MINORITY. IF YOU THE WRITERS HAVE ANY GOODNESS IN YOU AT ALL THEN GET OUT OF YOUR ON WAY AND LET YOUR LEADERS LEAD YOU. STOP AND “THINK”. YOU ARE DESTROYING LIVES AND FAMILYS..OH, I FORGOT, YOU DO NOT CARE!
It is surprising to me how many dense individuals are here, specifically the hardliners. I wonder why many of the level headed ones cannot see the logic of ending this ill-conceived strike. I’m not going to go over why I think that again, it is a dead horse. If I think about all of the idiots I see on the freeway every day, it is really no wonder. It must be a lot of the same people.
“Reality and animation will be part of this settlement!”
The only people who are going to vote to reject a deal on Saturday are the folks with nothing to lose. Their voices are loud on the net but small in number. I’ve been picketing every day and the overwhelming amount of folks walking with me just want this thing to end.
Comment by Writer Bon — February 6, 2008 @ 8:01 pm:
“Calling the strike over before we vote is exactly the kind of shit that’d make me vote to stay out even longer.”
So you’re saying you’d vote against any proposed deal (whatever that may be) just because some people in Hollywood believe the Disney picket could be the final one? WTF? You’d vote against ANY proposed deal out of spite, out of anger that someone had the audacity to suggest that the end was in sight? What happened to voting based on the issues?
I’m a 31-year-old writer who has spent the past few years working steadily in both network TV and features. The sentiments of “Writer Bon” are exactly why I and virtually EVERY other working writer I know have been questioning the WGA’s tactics and rhetoric since January.
Somehow, for many “writers”, this strike has become less about getting a fair deal and more about sticking it to The Man and bitching about the Establishment and drawing idiotic associations between the CEOs and various members of the Republican party.
Wake up, please.
Thanks to Morgan for writing what I have been thinking. My husband has worked as grip for more than 20 years, but was laid off in November, so we have a very personal interest in the strike outcome. The people who are not writers or studio moguls are the collateral damage in this war. How many have been affected? Will things ever get back to “normal” (well, as normal as “Hollywood” ever gets)? When the strike ends (fingers crossed, hopefully soon) remember that TV shows and films don’t get made by themselves, and that the production team is just that-a TEAM, from craft service to head honcho.
Meg, A Grip’s Wife
Morgan:
While I appreciate your situation, I think a lot of people who are advocating “cutting our losses” are either not aware of or not seeing the big picture, the real reason this strike happened.
Sooner than you think, everything will be considered “content created for the internet.” And without meaningful internet jurisdiction, the WGA is doomed and everything that writers have fought for since the Guild’s beginning will be lost. What’s the point of coming back to save this TV season if we lose our Guild in the process?
Now I have strong hopes that the issues that threatened the WGA’s survival have at least been resolved. But if they haven’t, if this is yet another scam from the AMPTP’s bag of dirty tricks, then it’s not a deal I’ll be voting for. And I, like most writers, am probably not in any better position financially than you are. So let’s not forget who the bad guys are here — they’re the ones who could pay for the WGA deal with a personal check. Not the writers who are trying to figure out which bills to pay, just like you.
Why do we all have to wait until Saturday?
What the hell happened yesterday? What about today or tomorrow?
We’re all HOME and could meet anytime.
Why wait until Saturday?
As someone who drives to many different studios during the day, this morning I notice a lot of picketers staying out in front of the gates after the cars got their green light. Please stay safe and follow basic traffic laws people. Don’t do dumb stuff that gives anyone the chance to point at you and say “Darwin nominee”.
WGA Please get over yourselves and go into this meeting with open minds and hearts. So many are suffering for your cause and it is obvious by this blog you don’t care. Too bad I answer to a higher authority or I would be out picketing you. I have so much difficulty understanding the lack of compasion.
What I’d like to see in these postings is everyone actually admit how much paid TV and Film Writing they actually participate in. I’ve got a feeling most of the “stay out forever” camp either doesn’t work or used to and hasn’t worked in a long time. It’s so easy to strike when you don’t have a job. So keep it up folks. If your camp actually gets its way, no final contract will ever come close to making up for what’s been lost. Remember, one day the real writers will have to go back to work and at this point, the film-making community has lost is sense of support for your cause. Maybe the A-list SAG members voice support, but they number a handful compared to the numbers who crew a project from pre to post.
For those of you who have any common sense left and understand that you don’t get to script real-life endings in the manner you alone choose, it’s time to take the deal, if it’s reasonable, then build on it in the future. And please don’t respond to this by telling me how horrible the AMPTP has been. That’s how it works and that’s how hard-core businessman think. Next time, pick representatives who know how to negotiate. It was a foregone conclusion before this strike got off the ground that the DGA would settle before the WGA and create a template for your contract.
Ratings are tanking, the studios want to settle, make something happen.
At this point I’m hoping you idiots actually do go against your leaders and kill this deal. Then the actual working writers in this town who have a clue about the business side can blow up the guild and leave the hangers on that are leeching off the people doing the work and providing the leverage behind.
If all the “the strike is nearly over” and “last mass picket” crap really is being put out by the AMPTP to raise expectations, the people who say they are writers that post on this site are sure doing a bang-up job of turning the tide of public opinion against them.
Guys, try not to call a deal a steamy piece of shit when only your “well-placed sources” have seen it. And have they actually seen it? Have you seen a copy? I was under the impression it was still being written.
You supported your leaders who told you it was a good idea to strike. You elected them into these positions to represent you. Listen to them. If they think the deal is in your best interests, maybe your best interests would be to go to the meeting Saturday without a preconcieved idea that what you are going to hear is going to be bad. The deal isn’t gonna be exactly what you want. You had to give some things up in order to get some in return.
And for the love of God, don’t post snarky and downright stupid-sounding comments on websites and waste the goodwill you have already handily won in the court of public opinion.
I’m convinced there are about 30 hardliners (maybe less) who post on this board. The echo chamber has them thinking that the thousands and thousands of members are going to reject any deal that isn’t perfect, even when leadership is recommending the deal.
Keep dreaming, and be thankful that the moderates are going to save you from yourselves and you’ll still have jobs when this is finally over.