Writers Strike Begins - Writers Required To Picket

Well, the Writers Guild of America went on strike today, leaving networks and studios to scrape together what completed projects they have in stock and make due with that until the strike comes to an end and the writers return to work. The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers weren’t able to come to an agreement over the weekend, which resulted in the writers striking.

Variety reported many of the details from this weekend’s attempts at negations. This included remarks about the ongoing feud between AMPTP president Nick Counter and WGA West president Patric Verrone. Variety speculates that the two men’s extreme dislike for one another is most likely making negotiations even more difficult.

Variety’s article is full of lots of tidbits about the attempts between the WGA and AMPTP to come to an agreement but what I found the most interesting (considering the “these guys just cant agree on anything” angle on the strike story has gotten kind of old) is the fact that the writers will apparently be required to picket at one of the many chosen locations (mostly studios in Los Angeles and New York) for a minimum of 20 hours per week.

Since the strike begun, earlier today, many of the writers have already taken to the picket lines. The New York Times already has a picture up of some angry looking writers walking the picket line.

While those writers might be eager to have their voices heard and make their faces known, not all of the writers appear to feel the same way. According to Variety, “One scribe explained that he was incensed after getting a WGA memo informing him that he would be required to picket the studio he works most closely with. The scribe said he's perturbed at the WGA for putting him in the position of being seen holding a picket sign in the sight of execs who have paid him big money to write projects.”

The picketing isn’t just an inconvenience for the writers who don’t want to be seen by their employers, its also apparently disrupting the production of at least one show. A scene from the CBS series Cane was apparently halted today after picketers made a lot of noise near the location of the shoot.

The WGA strike of 1988 went on for five months. Let’s hope this current strike can be resolved fairly quickly so that things can get back to normal as soon as possible.