WGA Strike

Tim Robbins at the 2007-08 strike downstate (WGA-E), November 2007 (the ex went to Albany instead this year)

 Here we go again.  The studios and the Writers' Guild of America have failed in negotiations and WGA are once more are on the picket line.  A strike is the last resort for any union.  The last one from November 2007 to February 2008 cost over a billion dollars in lost revenue just before the last recession to boot.  I just hope this one isn't as long.  They don't last forever.  Every union eventually have to return to the bargaining table and sort it out with management.  Streaming and now AI are everywhere, and residuals aren't as guaranteed after fifty years time.  The pandemic has also affected Hollywood and pretty much all of society, and has emboldened workers to fight for more, from a rise to benefits to better treatment.  We all want that, and it's frustrating to see an industry tied up when one side or the other isn't ready to haggle.  For less lucrative labour, when David or Goliath is at the end of his rope at it were, then it's time to settle.  Glad I was too young to notice when this happened in the late '80s.  This isn't the kind of business that can have scabs like a plant because of the money and lawyers involved.  We had less trouble with the railway row just a while ago, even though they didn't get everything they demanded.  I'm no Norma Rae myself, mind, but I was in a union myself once.

Writers, we all love you and appreciate all of your hard work.  Fight the good fight and go back to the table soon so history doesn't repeat itself.  I'm not trying to meddle or cross the picket line, but nobody wants this to drag on into next season.  I'll ask the spirits when we can expect you to reconcile with the studios with the crystal ball, the original AI or AP wire since antiquity, if you like (it says 13 May or 8 June [checked thrice], or even when strike funds run out).  Good luck in the trenches.  Come back soon.