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The Writers Side: Strike Scoop From Hank Steinburg
For those of you who prefer to read both sides of the strike, not just the TVGuide's staff posts starting with snide comments like: "Well, that didn't take long." in front of reporting "The WGA has swiftly dismissed...", here is an email that was sent out from Hank Steinburg to many of his fellow writers. If you don't know who Hank Steinburg is, go look him up on IMBD or Google.
Since he has given permission for this to be spread so that other writers can understand what's going on, I think it's okay to share it with you so you understand what's going on. After all, Hank knows how important public opinion is. And I'm gravely concerned that if you don't have viewpoints from the actual strike lines, you'll have nothing but the PR to believe.
There's something that I learned talking with writers while we were making signs for the last rally that I'd like you to consider: writers are spending 3-4 hours straight walking in circles on concrete pavement in 85 degree LA weather (except for today when it was pouring rain) and they are doing it every day for 5 straight days, for 4 weeks now. That's 80 hours of walking for men and women of all degrees of physical fitness who are used to sitting in front of a computer 14 hours a day in air-conditioned offices. This is not fun. Ask yourself how much fun it would be for you if you were doing it.
Okay, here's the email which has been distributed to writers today:
To my fellow writers,
I'm sure tonight's email from the Writer's Guild was a tad disheartening, particularly after expectations were raised this week that we would be close to making a deal and that the studios were prepared to make substantial concessions.
I spoke to a member of the Negotiating Committee tonight to get more enlightened myself as to what the hell happened: what was the disconnect between the rumors and expectations and the dismal results of this week?
The answer, apparently, is that this is precisely the studios' strategy: raise expectations through disinformation in the media and elsewhere, get us feeling comfortable, get us psychologically used to the idea that the strike will end, and then dash those hopes. This is essentially what they did on November 4th and they are trying to do it again. That is why they leaked the news to Nicky Fink on Monday that the deal was essentially done. If we go soft and get comfortable, the thinking goes, we'll end up accepting a sh*tty deal. Apparently, this strategy has worked for them in the past but we can't let it work now.
As long as we understand what they are doing and why they are doing it, we should not be disheartened. The studios' real mandate is to close this deal by mid to late December to get the TV season back on track in January and to save their pilot season. They have no urgency right at this moment to resolve this. Their coming back to the table now was part of a P.R. mislead and was actually meant to raise our hopes, then thwart them as a means of psychological warfare. To wear us down. They will, in fact, probably not negotiate for real until closer to their mid-December deadline and in the meantime will try to work on our collective resolve.
So although the idea of picketing for a couple of more weeks doesn't sound particularly glamorous to any of us, we're still in good shape to make a fair deal and we shouldn't allow their tactics to dampen our spirits or forget what it is we're striking over in the first place. They need to make a deal, they will make a deal, they just want to gauge us as much as they can. I thought it enormously helpful to understand where they are coming from and hope it will help you too.
The leadership understands that an informed constituency is a motivated constituency and members of the leadership and negotiating committee will be out on the picket lines on Monday to elucidate some of this and to answer questions, but no reason to churn and stew all weekend till then.
So rest up this weekend and don't despair.
And by all means, feel free to forward this email to any of our brethren.
We're all in this together!
Hank
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Nov 30, 2007 11:06 PM
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Thank you for posting this!
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Nov 30, 2007 11:45 PM
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Hi Golly. I don't suppose anybody will be too surprised to learn that psychological tactics are being employed. They are often very effective. Knowing in advance of the means of their employment (or deployment?) should be very helpful in psyching yourselves against them.
As for the grueling physical aspect, is it against strike protocol to have folding chairs lined up so that the marching strikes can be staggered throughout the hours of the day. I know that must be brutal for all of you.
We (I) am still behind you guys. I want you to get your fair share of the pie or pies, as it seems to be. So, you folks HANG TOUGH!!
Thanks for taking the time to give us the real skinny on the news.
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Dec 1, 2007 2:15 PM
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zegreuby-doo and pipperoo
As for the grueling physical aspect, is it against strike protocol to have folding chairs lined up so that the marching strikes can be staggered throughout the hours of the day.
I was planning to cover this on CAT Scratchings, as my more personal blog, in a post called things I've learned in this strike, but I haven't had time to write it. For example, the reason strikers have to keep moving is that if you just stand still, you can be arrested for loitering. Based on that, I'd say if you had a folding chair, you'd probably be arrested for squatting.
But this isn't a prison camp. People have to go to the restroom and obviously aren't going to be let into the studio to do so... so they go to their nearest McDonald's or something. So if there is a real need to sit down, you can leave for a little bit and come back... Depends a lot on the studio and what's near the gate... there's usually a strike headquarters area nearby which might have tables and chairs if you need it. Or sometimes there's a planter you can sit on and rest if you need to.
Obviously, if you sign in and then just disappear, you aren't going to be looked on favorably by your fellow peers, but if you physically need to take a break, you aren't chained to the line. And you can always tell your strike captain, you need to take a break. Remember, though, that writers are strongly motivated to stay on the picket line -- based on past treatment and non-serious, unattractive negotiations, they feel their entire future as working writers (as opposed to spare time writers holding down day jobs) is at stake, and so is the future of the writers who come after them.
And those of us who don't have enough guild credits yet to be official members of the guild but are working toward it can do as much as we can, we're not required to do the full 20 hours like guild members are (although I think they have just recently dropped this to 12, because 20 is gruelling). I can't -- my day job, which is currently in post production, is still working (we're finishing up episodes which have been written and shot before the strike started -- so our days are numbered), so I do as much picketing as I can. And I figure that what I can't do to help on the picket line or at headquarters, I do trying to help the public understand what's going on and become/stay supporters. As you all know, sometimes I get very passionate in my defense, sometimes, maybe too much so.
They welcome all the support they can get, be it writers assistants & script coordinators who are out of work (which I would be too if I had landed a script coordinator job this season like I usually do, instead of being asked to work in Post, which is a new area of the process for me) or fans or readers of blogs. Some writers who have consistent readers/commenters on their blogs tell their readers where they are going to be picketing and invite them to come walk and talk with them -- after a while walking in circles can get boring too. They are all grateful for whatever time anyone can give on the picket line.
And if you can go and do, be sure to check in with the strike captains. Every time I've gone, they have wanted me to sign in -- member or not -- because that's where they get their numbers from to report to the world how many are out there. Don't want to leave you with the impression though, that there are a lot of non-WGA people on the lines. For the most part, it is WGA writers on the lines, everywhere, with those of us who are actively trying to work towards becoming WGA members.
And shifts are now staggered, because they want to have a presence at 5:30 am and 6 am when the teamsters come. Teamsters have such a strong union that they are unique in having a clause in their contract that allows individual drivers to refuse to cross picket lines WITHOUT legal consequences, even if their entire union can't strike because of the no-strike clause. So all you need is picketers out there to be seen when they come.
I have heard that studios have been sneaky and get around this by calling for the trucks to come in at night or direct them to the no strike zone/neutral gates (if you want to know what that means, ask and I'll answer next time, but I'm running out of time right now) and there has been some Teamster suggestions that the WGA needs to go to a 24/7 schedule. I don't know why the WGA hasn't gone that route, probably because they don't have enough manpower to man all the studios gates around the city and show a force at each gate, but it may come down to that if the strike lasts long.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, for coming up with the insightful comments and questions and for caring. Believe me, my fellow writers and I really appreciate you.
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Dec 1, 2007 5:21 PM
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Thank you, golly!
I was ticked off at the tenor of the TVGuide.com post, especially when I read the comments that had been posted - and even not counting multiple posts by single individuals, the clear indication, contrary to the position expressed in the post by the TVGuide staffer, was that the viewers still supported the writers over the AMPTP. And it pissed me off that there was no way to comment directly on the TVGuide post to challenge the statement it made that viewers were getting tired of the writers holding firm, when that certainly wasn't an accurate representation of the comments!
Stay strong. Those of us who've done our homework are still with you.
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Dec 2, 2007 10:50 AM
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and there has been some Teamster suggestions that the WGA needs to go to a 24/7 schedule.
OMG. That would be incredibly hard on all of you. I hope this thing can finally be resolved before it comes to that.
If I were still in Los Angeles, I would stop by with bottles of water and acetominaphin. Unfortunately, I can't FedEx anything to a street corner! But maybe I can persuade someone to drop some off for me. Isn't there a CBS studio in Culver City somewhere?
Meanwhile, just remember (and remind others) that there are a LOT of us who support you 100% and would be marching with you if we could. If you're right, the studios will likely drag this on until February (or maybe Super Tuesday), because until then they'll have enough episodes in the can before people really start to raise a fuss. So, hang in there.
On the bright side, if your doctor is anything like mine, s/he'll be really glad to hear about all the exercise y'all are getting. You're burning off many, many calories! So, when you're tempted by chocolate mousse at dinner, you can feel free to indulge knowing you'll just burn it off anyway! (Hey, I'm trying to keep your spirits up here!)
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Dec 2, 2007 10:59 AM
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Famin and Mary,
I'm a bit wiped out now but I want to thank you for your continued support and your comments. Just hearing from you always lifts my spirits. I'm also glad to hear you keep well-informed. If part of that search for information includes other writers blogs, do stop and make a comment. It really does help to hear that people are supporting us.
Today I was out at Warners Bros... (making my doctor happy, as Famin says)... and Shawn Ryan, the showrunner of The Unit and The Shield, and more imporantly now, on the negotiating team, came out to talk to us about all the misinformation being put out by the corporations who own both the studios and the news media and to answer our questions. Since the WGA wasn't negotiating today (because they are waiting on the AMPTP to give them the rest of their proposals that they said were to come shortly), the entire negotiating committee is out talking to the membership on the pickets to answer questions.
According to Shawn, the reason we haven't heard anything on what was going on, was because the WGA team was honoring the news blackout agreement they made... whereas the studios were using it as an orchestrated PR move, leaking their PR to people like Nicky, whom he felt got used. He said that he doubted the WGA would agree to another news blackout where they can't communicate with their members.
Anyway, I'm going to write up what I learned on CAT Scratchings:
http://dannygirlpaceyjack.blogspot.com/
as I have time. The reason I'm choosing that venue rather than this one is that I'm very pressed for time right now and the blotspot blog is much easier to edit and add to as I can and think of it.
On a personal note, I got a 'strike' T-shirt today. So instead of just wearing my own red shirts (like the dreadful one I had my pic taken it), I now can wear the grey and red real thing. I guess I signed in at a time and place where they still had T-shirts to give us.
Famin, CBS Television City is on Beverly Blvd and Fairfax... that might be considered West Hollywood, but it's definitely Los Angeles. I don't think Culver City extends way up there. Culver City is where Sony Studios is. The only other CBS I know is CBS Radford in Studio City. And of course Paramount Studios now.
You all can help, if you can spare a buck or two by supporting the PencilsForMoguls program. Buy a box of pencils to be sent to the studios to show your support. You can even earmark it for a particular writer or particular show. I think those 'rich' writers people think everybody is are subsidizing the program so that the cost to you guys is small and hence affordable. But they also mentioned that any remaining money will go to help the non-WGA people who have been hurt by the strike... and I'm thinking that is the little people you all have shown concern for.
I know there are other sites to tie into the PencilsForMoguls program and I actually think we have the Buffy/Angel fans to thank for it if I'm not mistaken, but it's just easier for my tired brain to remember:
unitedhollywood.com.
Once again thank you guys for your support. And check into CAT Scratchings in the next day or two so you can read about what Shawn shared with us today. Like I said I'll be putting it up in pieces there.
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Dec 3, 2007 8:36 PM
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Here are some interesting paragraphs from Variety.com for Dec.4, 2007:
Several SAG board members, such as Frances Fisher, have noted that the WGA's taking the heat for what should have been SAG's battle. They're still perturbed over the 2004 decision by SAG's national board, led by then-president Melissa Gilbert, to agree to a one-year extension of its deal -- which delinked SAG's expiration date from the WGA's and placed it in sync with the DGA's.
SAG board member Justine Bateman recently issued a widely distributed email asking actors to spend at least an hour a day on the lines.
"Ultimately, this is our strike," she wrote. "If the WGA had not called this strike, we would all be participating in massive stockpiling. Then, in June, when our contract expires, the AMPTP would have offered us the no-gains-play-your-work-for-free-and-how-bout-some-rollbacks offer we're now familiar with. And SAG would have to go on strike, but because of the stockpiling, we would have no leverage."
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Dec 4, 2007 12:55 AM
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Thanks golly, I was thinking of Sony. I couldn't remember what it was, but I knew there was a studio a block south of Venice, so I guess it was Sony.
Thanks for the reminder for PencilsforMoguls--I've been meaning to do another batch.
Good luck out there! Hey, at least you're not in NYC. I think that as exhausting as picketing is, it's significantly harder in 30-degree temps plus 15mph winds! And they're expecting snow this week I thought. Yuck.
Will you all be taking a break at Christmas?
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Dec 4, 2007 1:14 PM
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Famin,
Yes, that is Sony, south of Venice. It's on Washington, which is the big street south of Venice. Sony is the lot that used to be Columbia Tri-Star and before that Lorimar and before that MGM Studios where all the great MGM pictures were made.
They are also one of the worst employers for an employee to have to deal with.
I don't think the WGA wants to tip its hand this early about Christmas time, but if the studio is closed, they won't have any picketers outside. So just like there are no picketers on the weekend (right now) even though some parts of the studio remain open, there won't be any on the holidays either. I'll try to remember to say something when I know more.
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Dec 4, 2007 8:01 PM
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