As writers hit 100 days of being on strike, members approached the milestone with a large degree of resolve and enthusiasm, with some anger and questions simmering underneath.
The picket line outside the Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery offices near Union Square was one of the largest seen in New York since the start of the Writers Guild of America strike on May 2. The WGA received more than 700 RSVPs just from its own members, but SAG-AFTRA members were also on the lines as were IATSE members, Local 802 musicians and more.
A Local 802 band and a drumline of all women, trans and non-binary musicians accompanied the picketers circling around the block. Local elected officials, including New York City comptroller Brad Lander and New York state senator Kristen S. Gonzalez, were in attendance as well as Rebecca Damon, executive director of SAG-AFTRA’s New York local, as well as big-name actors such as Richard Gere and Bob Odenkirk.
The 100-day milestone is significant not only for the timespan, but because the strike now surpasses the length of the 2007-2008 writers strike, which ended on its 100th day.
Michael Winship, president of WGA East, also led the guild through the previous strike. Speaking from the picket lines, Winship said the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has changed since the last strike. Now, he said, it’s both more “obstinate,” in the fact that the alliance has not called writers back to the table to renegotiate, but also has a different composition.
“It’s a different alliance than it was 15 years ago because it includes so many streaming companies like Amazon, like Netflix, like Apple and others. So there is that apparent division between those companies and the legacy companies,” Winship said.
“I have no doubt that we’re gonna win. It’s just gonna take a little while longer,” he added. “We’re as strong as ever, so I’m not concerned about moving past the 100-day point.”
The large degree of solidarity from SAG-AFTRA, which went on strike July 14, as well as from other unions, has been one of the main rallying forces for many on the picket lines. But so have the key issues at play, including residuals, protections around the use of AI and the creation of so-called writers “mini-rooms,” which many members view as existential threats.
“The resolve amongst our members is incredible,” said Victoria Pollack, a WGA strike captain. “We are 100 days in, so everybody’s everybody’s feeling like it’s 100 days in, but we love what we do. We want to get back to work, and we’re all eager to do so in a way that’s sustainable.”
With these topline issues at stake, as well as the solidarity from the other unions and their philanthropic support, Greg Iwenski, a member of the WGA negotiating committee, said he believes the guild can remain on strike for “an incredibly long time,” if need be.
“You are really talking to 11,000 writers about will you ever be able to get a mortgage? Will you be able to pay rent in New York and LA? Will you be able to put your kids in school? Will you be able to pay off your student loans ever working in this? Or will you be a TV writer who has a second job?” Iwenski said.
The fact that the strike has lasted this long is not surprising, said Sean Crespo, a WGA strike captain who summed up the 100 days of picketing as “horrible, amazing, beautiful, sad.” However, he says the fact that the AMPTP has not yet come back to the table also creates questions about how the strike can end.
“There’s the upside of seeing the solidarity with your fellow members now with SAG and all the other labor unions that have been involved that have shown up when we were just shutting down productions,” Crespo said. “And then the grim reality of it’s been 100 days of this lunacy from the AMPTP and [we have] no idea if they’re gonna come back to the negotiating table like they are obligated to.”
Representatives from the AMPTP held a meeting with members of the WGA on Aug. 4 to discuss potentially resuming negotiations. However, after the meeting, the WGA said there had been “no agreement” on issues. Members interviewed on the picket line in NYC were somewhat divided on the meeting, with some viewing the outreach from the AMPTP as a sign of progress, while others dismissed it as a publicity stunt.
Despite the lack of progress made at the meeting, Danny Strong, co-creator of the Fox series Empire and creator of Dopesick on Hulu, said he believes writers are more “fired up” than they were on the first day of the strike and that they’ll remain committed to the picket lines until a negotiation is reached on the key issues, such as streaming residuals and AI.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t go on this long, but from the meeting they had on Friday, it sounds like they’re not really interested in making a deal,” said Danny Strong, co-creator of the Fox series Empire and creator of Dopesick on Hulu. “So we’ll just wait, and picket until they’re ready to, in good faith, address the issues that people that create all their content and write all their content and act all their content [want] addressed.”
