[Note: I was originally calling this “day seven,” but it’s really the ninth day of the strike. It’s the seventh day of picketing.]
A better day than six. Warmer, for one, and with more of Paramount’s picketers assigned to the Van Ness gate, the mood was improved. I don’t know what the ideal picketer-per-linear-foot ratio is, but it’s like throwing a party. Below a certain number of people, it’s just a lot of milling about.
I’ve heard reports of police (notably, not LAPD) being unfriendly at other locations, issuing jaywalking tickets for the most minor of infractions. Around Paramount, I’m happy to report, they’ve been great. One cruiser stopped to make sure we were creating gaps (we were) and gave a thumbs-up. I’m hoping they’ll station an officer nearby during peak hours to discourage drivers who cut lanes, impatient for those making a left turn. Because that’s probably the first car accident waiting to happen.
I got to talk with more Teamsters today. They’re a very strong union, with a unique clause in their contracts which allows individual drivers to choose not to cross another union’s picket lines. One Teamster driver’s proposed solution (“You gotta have 24-hour picket lines, big ones, at every studio and shut the whole town down.”) stirred in me a fantasy montage in which trucks idled for hours, unable to actually land anywhere. More than anything, it was interesting talking with a guy who was genuinely conflicted.
I got an email today from someone in a similar situation:
I am an aspiring screenwriter, [but currently] I am a computer tech at [Big Movie Studio]…I live in Dana Point and commute 2-3 hours each way, everyday just to keep my foot in the door, just to be able to maintain a financially viable career while at the same time being able to smoke on that pipe from time to time. I’ve been fortunate thus far. I have made some great contacts in the development department at [my studio] and have made other connections that at least have me pointed in a decent direction. So with all that being said, here’s my dilemma:
I feel an intense guilt having to walk through the picket lines each morning. Philosophically, I am on the WGA’s side. But most mornings since the strike began, I am insulted, albeit lightly, as I walk through the picket line. I read your last post about how the pickets are really not there to stop people like myself but more to stop the Teamsters. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been my experience.
I don’t work in production. I am just a computer helpdesk guy. I have no union nor do I have any protection that the unions offer. If I walkout in support, I have no job and when the strike ends I won’t be welcomed back like the writers eventually will.
So I guess what I am asking is this: I have been thinking about taking a day off and walking the picket lines at [my studio]. I want to show my support without putting my job in jeopardy. I also want to try and introduce myself to the pickets and tell them that while I must cross their lines, I support them nonetheless. I thought that if I picketed with them and got to know some of them that perhaps they might feel better about me when I cross the lines to go to work.
I sympathize completely. In fact, that’s probably my biggest frustration with the whole idea of picketing — you end up pissing off a lot of people who are not only Not The Bad Guy, but are otherwise very sympathetic to the situation. I got into a disagreement with a guy on my picket line this morning who I felt was being overzealous in his efforts to delay and annoy motorists. I pulled out my observation that, “making an assistant 20 seconds later to her desk doesn’t help anyone.” He was at most half-convinced, but I’m happy he moved on to another gate.1
My advice for the reader who wrote in is to absolutely take a walk on the picket lines.
Again today I had three readers joining me (two for their second round), and I was impressed that it wasn’t remotely about schmoozing or networking. As aspiring writers, they recognized that the outcome of this strike will determine a lot about the future of screenwriters in the industry. They wanted to take some ownership of the outcome, which I applaud.
Pictured is not my head, in case you’re wondering.
- By the same token, being delayed 20 seconds is no reason to start driving like a maniac, which happened several times today. I’m pretty convinced there’s going to be an accident — either car hitting car, or car hitting picketer — caused by one of these sudden bursts of idle-rage. ↩