A representative from the Writers Guild slipped in and briefed a few of the writers at NBC today. I was told third-hand that the negotiating committee is planning on continuing with the lawyers all week, in hopes that the details of the proposed contract can be distributed to members before Saturday night’s general membership meeting at the Shrine Auditorium.
There are no details forthcoming (I wouldn’t put them up here, after all, since it might be perceived as somehow harmful to the strike effort), so it beats me why they couldn’t just send an email.
Anyhow, word on the street is that a lot of showrunners are telling their staffs to get ready to go back to work on Monday. If the hard-liners at Saturday night’s meeting manage to shout down the writers who are ready to live with the contract, the way they shouted down the guy at the last meeting (who asked why we’re not using professional negotiators), that’s not going to happen.
So go ahead and get your hopes up, if you want. But after being told not to talk to the press, not to ask questions of the leadership, not to write the guild with my opinion on how things were going, not to try to borrow money from the Strike Fund until my bank denied me credit, not to work for non-signatory companies, and finally, not to ratify the DGA contract (I’m in that Guild, too), even though the DGA leadership recommended it, I can think of one more thing not to do in this strike. Get my hopes up.
I should note here that I have supported the strike from the day the Guild called it. Even though it’s embarrassing to get screamed at by below-the-line workers, dangerous to stand at that gate (between the cars and the fumes), irritating to watch “strike teams” with real team names and matching hats have a cookout party every morning, damaging to my career to be one of the 15% who bothers to picket at all, and demoralizing to watch my coworkers going in and out of work every day. I still picket, because that’s what you do when you’re in a Union and you’re on strike. At least, that’s what other unions do.
So let me go pack my lunch (I’m down to not being able to afford the tip at Bob’s Big Boy), and go walk in a circle at the one permanent picket location — made so, because the Guild has singled out Jay Leno, of all the shows back on air, to make an example out of him — and listen to another SAG member tell me what a dick I am for not wanting to stay on strike until July, so they can close their deal quickly.
Plus, there’s no goddam Red Vines.
I’ll see you at the Shrine Auditorium on Saturday night. I’m not sure where it is, but I figure I can just drive downtown and follow the torches and pitchforks. Here’s hopin’!
