Why The Writers’ Strike Is Yet Another Good Workers’ Strike
Since the 2020 Pandemic and the ongoing “Great Resignation,” strikes nationwide have won workers better pay and conditions. The ongoing WGA Writers’ Strike is another that must be supported.
Hello, friends,
Last week, we talked about how a bad implementation of AI translation software can endanger, and has done harm to migrants’ efforts to seek asylum and other legal immigration methods. We’ll touch on the immigration issue a little bit more at our In Other News segment.
This week, our attention is going to be on the 2023 Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) Strike. Following the pandemic and the subsequent workers’ ‘shortage’ between 2021 to present, known as the Great Resignation, workers have been fighting for their rights across various industries. Following failed ‘negotiations’ with the Alliance of Motion Picture And Television Producers (AMPTP), the WGA voted overwhelmingly to go on strike.
This article idea was inspired by a conversation with Jay Bass, who also deserves credit for giving me feedback given his job in the film industry.
The Roots Of The WGA Strike
The WGA is responsible for pretty much all of the scripted TV shows that you see on Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO, and all the rest - as well as late-night TV and other cinema. (Here I note that it does not represent political authors and/or novelists, so I’m not covered by this strike - though I do support it!)
Very simply, that means a lot of the entertainment that you enjoy is going to have release dates postponed. Here’s a list that I’m sure isn’t complete, including such highlights as productions for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Netflix’s final season of Stranger Things, Saturday Night Live, and (one of my favorites) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
Now, I won’t pretend I am an expert on what was being ‘negotiated’ for, or what exactly happened. The WGA’s side of events is available on their website, broken down into a very easily understood point-and-counter-point chart. You’ll note how many times the phrase “Rejected our proposal. Refused to make a counter” appears in the document. That’s why I put the word ‘negotiations’ in paraphrase. That’s not how you negotiate.
That’s how you demand to exploit.
So the writers collectively said “Screw it, we’re out.” And good on them! Our old friend Scabby The Rat came through for the WGA in New York. Various actors and other professionals are joining the picket line. In general? Stuff is being shut down. That’s the appropriate response when the boss wants to exploit you - you don’t let them. It’s really that simple, from what I’ve gathered: These people want to be paid fairly, want things like a pension and healthcare, want consistency in their workload, and many other things clearly spelled out in the WGA’s documentation.
As far as the AMPTP’s take on things? Well, they hint at the idea of preserving the “longevity” of their industry, but a cursory couple of Google searches don’t turn up a lot of press releases or statements. Speculation abounds. Do they think they’re going to replace some of their writing staff with Chat-GPT style AI? I’ve played with it a bit - it ain’t that good. Do they think that their massive back-catalogs of content can keep viewers content while wearing the writers down? Who’s to say?
How The WGA Strike Plays Into The Workers’ Movement At Large
We’ve talked about strikes across the globe on this Substack somewhat recently, but the workers’ movement’s post-pandemic regeneration is worthy of review. The Great Recession has been compared to a type of general strike in general, and, in particular, October of 2021 was known as “Striketober” for a reason. “Hollywood” - as if the American media ecosystem could ever be so simply defined - negotiated with its theatrical stage employees union, the IATSE; Nabisco improved worker compensation following BCTGM strikes; the BCTGM also won against Kellogg; many healthcare and education workers demanded and got better conditions and compensation.
These strikes also face consequences and even suspected retaliation, such as when Starbucks retaliated against its unionizing workers through all sorts of questionably-legal-at-best means. Our “labor-friendly” President, Joe Biden, signed legislation blocking a rail-road strike - and wouldn’t’cha know it, months later there was a major railway incident due to lax safety standards! It’s still better than having gun-battles with the Pinkertons, but if it’s any consolation the Pinkertons are just targeting, threatening, and stealing from Magic The Gathering fans, these days.
There’s no doubt that the AMPTP is going to go into this strike with some kind of strategy. We’ve already hypothesized about some. Presumably, they will also try to hire outside writers to touch things up. This might sound like a great opportunity to get into the industry, but it’s a terrible idea. The WGA keeps track of people who scab, and it can and will prohibit such strikebreakers from becoming members in the future.
It’s fair to say that the 2023 WGA strike is just another step in the labor movement’s march for better conditions. There’s a famous South Park episode that sprung from the 2007 strike that talked about how online avenues of paying writers were not really monetized enough to be worth fighting for at that time. Remember, Youtube was still in its infancy and streaming was not really a thing. They are today.
To that end, the WGA has to essentially defeat the AMPTP. If that shining pillar of Capitalism called “The Stock Market” is any indication, that may be happening earlier than expected. Maybe those numbers are pure hopium, but while these writers are striking, others are essentially kept from working. My friend in the film industry? Can’t find many gigs. Those CGI artists? Nothing to animate. The marketing department? Nothing to sell but what’s on the shelf already. All of their unions are going to be leaning on the AMPTP to come back to the negotiating table with actual offers.
It might be easy to dismiss these striking writers as privileged. After all, they aren’t breaking rocks in a quarry or banging on molten steel! Why should they be well-paid? They’re greedy! And, speaking as someone who writes in an adjacent field, it’s true that we’re not out there breaking our backs in a field. We are, however, bent over our laptops in questionably-comfortable chairs for hours on end working up a DVT. I’ve talked before about how I’m a chronic pain patient with degenerative disc disease, yet my line of work has me constantly craning my neck because it’s what I do. Deadlines (like, “Can I finish this particular article by midnight so it’s technically still Friday instead of “it’s still Friday in California”) and other things cause stress.
Work is work, and when one strike wins it lends power to all future strikes. So let’s win this.
If you want to support the strike, and have the means at your disposal, click here.
In Other News
CNN gave Donald Trump a platform with which he could once again defame the woman he was found liable for sexually assaulting. It was disgusting. No further comment.
There’s a lot happening in the Immigration space, besides what we talked about last week. I don’t fully understand it all (I’m not an immigration lawyer, though I could recommend a good friend if you need one!), but it sounds like a lot of people want to come into the country. This is apparently viewed by many as a negative, despite the fact that without migrant workers, you get this: Empty farms with unpicked food, uncompleted buildings devoid of workers, and more. It’s almost like maybe these people are fleeing something terrible and are happy to be part of our society if we just give them a fucking path to citizenship?! Alas, the last major immigration law was under Reagan.
Florida’s Fascist educational regime is rejecting Holocaust-focused texts in order to fight “wokeness” or whatever.
Thank you for reading The Progressive Cafe. If this article has helped you, please consider signing up for our mailing list. This article is by Jesse Pohlman, a sci-fi/fantasy author from Long Island, New York, whose website you can check out here.