I am behind the striking writers in the WGA 100%.
I firmly suggest if you are ambivalent on the topic to do some reading.
Wikipedia: Article on the WGA 2007 strike
I (as most people know) lived in the Pittsburgh area for about 15 years. This was between the ages of about 15 to 30. For several years I lived across the street from one of the main Nabisco Baking Plants in Shadyside.
Wednesday was “Nilla Wafer” day. You woke up to the smell of it on the air.
In the mid to late 80s RJR Nabisco announced that to save money they would close several unionized baking plants in Pittsburgh in favour of opening a few non-union plants in Ohio.
There was an uproar. Pittsburgh (The Steel City, known for it’s unionized labour) went insane. The mayor reccommended that RJR nationally not pull out of the city. The plants closed ending many jobs.
The Mid-Atlantic region went insane. There was a regional boycott of Nabisco products. There was a regional boycott of RJR products. Prices on supermarket shelves were slashed. Boxes of crackers marked for “4 for $2” because the stock was piling up and no one could move it. And no one really wanted to move it.
The Boycott spread to most of the Eastern United States. If there’s one thing that’s prevalent when you leave the big city.. it’s unions.
Within 3 years the financial hit RJRN took was so devastating that the corporation fell to a leveraged buyout. See: Barbarians at the Gate
Effectively… business is about treating your customers well. But not at the cost of taking advantage of or worse hurting your employees.
I come from a white collar family. I suppose I’m lucky. I’m in a field that really doesn’t have a Union and in my case am in a company that actually strives to treat its employees very well. Unions weren’t a prominent thing for the son of a Doctor. But growing up in Pittsburgh and seeing the Union mentality helps one to see why Unions exist.
A union helps a group of people have the strength to negotiate fair terms and protection for themselves.
Believe it or not every American citizen is in a Union. If the person making the terms for your life doesn’t do the job, every four years you can vote them out.
Take the time to look at sites like Unitedhollywood.com and `Fans4Writers.com.
If you live in a primary strike city (L.A. or NYC)… consider bringing food to people who are not working in the hopes that they can take care of their own families.
Below is “Family Guy” Creator, Producer, Writer, and Voice Actor Seth MacFarlane speaking this week at a rally in L.A. Fox this week has decided to green light new episodes that Seth has not approved despite his request that they not.