Strike? Try A Studio Lockout


by Paul William Tenny

In case you had any doubt about who is forcing this strike, the writers or the producers, this really tells you all you need to know. According to Deadline Hollywood's Nikke Finke, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was invited to try his hand at mediating the dispute this weekend but the idea was rejected out of hand by the producers. The writers tried to setup another meeting this weekend to continue negotiations, which was also flatly rejected by the studios.

Not only have they shown total disinterest in bargaining (at all) with their ridiculous proposals that amount to suicide, they are now just plain old refusing to meet anymore. Mmmmm, you smell that? Stinks like desperation in here. Says about the only other person writing about the labor strife:

I’ll post my thoughts on this over the weekend, but I’ll give you a preview.

Given the circumstances, we have to strike. However, these circumstances didn’t have to be the circumstances, and we’re most definitely screwed.

So where does that leave things now? Makes me wonder why the guild hasn't tried to extend their contract duration from three years to three-and-a-half in years past so as to directly align themselves with SAG. Having to wait six months just for them to get started means the WGA will always be the one that gets hurt the most and will always be stuck in the position of getting increases for everybody else.

I realize SAG seems sympathetic right now, more so than in recent times, but writers don't need sympathy, they need the ability to shut down the entire town overnight. As long as a strike is the only option, when they come out on the other side of this, perhaps juggling those numbers a little bit to favor strength in numbers might not be such a bad idea.
in Labor

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