The writer is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in Los Angeles.
After months of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, on Nov. 5, the 12,000-
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According to the WGA website, the studio’s so-called Comprehensive Package Proposal is “comprised of 32 single-spaced pages containing rollbacks of every fundamental protection writers have won in the last 50 years.”
At the center of the debate is labor’s future in new media. Digital media—on the internet, cell phones and other digital devices is up and coming. It makes big money for the studios through advertising and lucrative contracts. The AMPTP is bent on making sure organized labor has no jurisdiction over it. The big studios want the full cut, keeping writers and all others frozen out.
Additional items of dispute are the regressive proposal on residuals, which basically would do away with residuals altogether, and writers’ share of DVD sales. The writers are asking for a mere eight cents for every DVD sold.
But the writers are fighting back. Pickets are taking place in front of studios all over Los Angeles and in New York City.
The Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America have provided support in name, but SAG, the DGA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees all have anti-worker “no strike” clauses in their contracts.
The leaders of these organizations have invoked the “no strike” clauses in all strike-related communications with their members. They aim to coerce members to adhere to the precise language of their negotiated labor agreements so as to prevent any possible legal backlash.
While it is true that unions can be legally sanctioned for refusing to honor a “no strike” clause, such a clause is inimical to worker solidarity.
The positions of craft unions like SAG, DGA, AFTRA and IATSE on the writers’ strike does nothing positive for their own members or the writers. If anything, they are preventing the possibility of a wider work stoppage that could force the producers back to the table.
On Nov. 14, IATSE President Tom Short accused the writers of being “strike happy.” Short has made numerous statements condemning the strike. Before it began, he threatened to sue the WGA if its writers went on strike. Some IATSE locals, however, have expressed support for the writers.
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the AFL-CIO’s Central Labor Council in L.A. County, has been completely silent about strike thus far.
The Teamsters, who won a “conscience clause” in their contracts with the studios—language permitting them to honor picket lines without reprisal—largely have honored the WGA pickets. Teamsters Joint Council 42 sanctioned the strike and Local 399 Secretary-Treasurer Leo Reed has supported publicly the WGA’s actions.
As Marxists, we know that even the most historically entrenched contract language can be overcome by militant action and worker solidarity.
We also know that the most powerful weapon against the capitalist bosses is the ability to withhold our labor power. As one picketing writer told pslweb.org, “This strike should be industry-wide. But, no matter what, we’ve got to fight. The greed of these corporations is unfathomable.”
The WGA has shocked many in Hollywood and beyond with its willingness to stand up to the studio bosses.
The writers are not traditional industrial or service workers. In fact, many writers see themselves as creative artists, not workers at all. Some are high paid; most barely scrape by. Despite any subjective limitations among writers, they are workers who suffer exploitation at the hands of big capital.
A strike like this can make the real relationship of labor and capital clearer. This happens on the picket lines. This happens through action in the streets.
Around 5,000 writers and supporters came out in Century City on Nov. 9 for the largest rally in WGA history.
On Nov. 20, the Party for Socialism and Liberation will join the WGA in strike support rally led by the Teamsters and other labor and community organizations.
The last WGA strike was in 1988 lasted 22 weeks. This time, writers are braced for a long struggle and they intend to win.
Working-class people—union and non-union—should show solidarity with the strike and direct their ire at the studios.
