[Note: I was originally calling this “day six,” but it’s really the eighth day of the strike. It’s the sixth day of picketing.]
I’ve had early call times for production, so showing up at Paramount at 6 a.m. was no particular hardship. It was dark and cold, but with two layers of fleece and my non-Thermos-brand coffee mug, I was ready.
The bigger challenge today was the location. My team was assigned to the Van Ness gate, which is very busy. Not only is it one of the main hubs for trucks, but it’s the entrance to a major parking garage. Unlike the main gate on Melrose, there’s no light, no cross-walk, and very little to prevent a car from smacking you head-on. Which nearly happened three times today.
So if there are any Paramount employees reading this, let me have a little honest moment with you.
- We really will let you in. We’re not trying to be dicks. We have to keep walking — that’s the law. We create gaps so your car can go through. Believe me, we’re not trying to hobble Paramount by making you 20 seconds later to your desk.
- By 8:47 a.m., when you’re arriving at work, we’ve been walking for almost three hours. So forgive us if we’re walking a little slow.
- We kind of only care about the trucks. Teamsters have been very supportive of the strike, so we often talk with them, and hand them flyers with updates. If we don’t give you a flyer, it’s because you’re not driving a big truck. But we love you, too.
- Those friendly, sympathetic waves? Keep ’em coming. As far as we know, there’s no Big Brother camera where the studio overlords are watching for signs of employee collusion.
Because it’s a school holiday, it ended up becoming “bring your kid to the picket line” day. We sent parents with kids to other gates, however, because it was just too dangerous at ours.
Now that I’ve painted such a glorious picture of the fun of striking, let me invite you to join me tomorrow: same place, same time. I had three blog-readers walking with us today, none of whom were WGA. So my thanks to them, and the drivers who didn’t run over them.