The WGA marked 100 days on strike on Aug. 9 with well-attended picket lines in both New York and Los Angeles.
The crowd was larger than usual outside Netflix in Los Angeles, where strikers had set up a balloon sign spelling out “100” to mark the occasion. “At 100 days, there’s no dip in commitment. There’s no dip in enthusiasm for doing what’s right,” said Nicole Yorkin, a member of the WGA negotiating committee. “I am so proud of our members. Whatever happens, we’re going to be here until we get what we want.”
There was also a sizable crowd at Paramount, down the street. Shawn Wines, a strike captain, said the day was an opportunity to show appreciation for the unity of the membership. “Nobody wants to celebrate that it’s been this long,” Wines said. “We want to appreciate each other, and the community that’s happening out here and the collective fight that we’re in.”
“What is going on here is just a microcosm of what is going on in the country as a whole,” added Marcelina Chavira, a TV writer and lot coordinator at Paramount. “The people at the top want less people to do more work for less money.”
The picket line outside Amazon Studios in Culver City is one of L.A.‘s quieter locations — WGA strike captain K.C. Scott describes it as a “walk and chat” scenario — missing the more boisterous megaphone-led chants of Netflix or Paramount. Instead, writers and actors let their signs do the shouting.
But there was above average attendance outside Amazon on Wednesday as more than 100 WGA members and about 50 actors from SAG-AFTRA, as well as IATSE members and teamsters, put on a show of solidarity. That unity has been one of the most energizing factors during this journey, Scott noted.
A few writers’ picket signs featured some variation of the slogan “100 Days Stronger,” which commemorated their hundredth day marching in back and forth along Washington Blvd. Another writer carried a sign that read “Nice try, Carol,” with the winking face of Kathryn Hahn’s “WandaVision” character, Agatha, in a not-so-veiled reference to the “talks before the talks” meeting AMPTP president Carol Lombardini held with WGA leadership last Friday.
Yet another sign was posted along the gate of the studio, listing the multimillion dollar salaries for Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Reed Hastings and two Murdochs, with the slogan, “Light up CEO salaries like dynamite.”
Scott and fellow WGA captain Jeane Phan Wong have been manning their Culver City posts since strike day 1. Looking back at the last 100 days, both writers noted the increasing energy and unity among strikers.
“Everybody here feels undeterred,” Scott said. “Honestly, I’ve been genuinely surprised at how high spirits have been throughout. Not to say it’s not tough walking out here in the sun for 100 days. We’d all rather be working, but everybody knows what the goal is and nobody’s willing to settle for less.“
Wong concurred: “Our resolve is just not changing or wavering. In some ways, the companies have already prepared us for the strike because they made us so broke and poor to begin with. We were almost in the same status before this.”
“I don’t think people who are not creatives realize is that by virtue of the conversations that we’re having with each other on the picket line, the whole mindset toward the rest of the industry has fundamentally changed,” Scott added. “There’s been a flip switched that won’t switch back.”
Meanwhile, if the goal of the WGA East was to make some noise in the streets of New York on Day 100, they definitely achieved it. During a picket outside the Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery offices near Union Square, the WGA and other union members were out in force alongside Fogo Azul, who describe themselves as an “all-women Brazilian Samba Reggae drum line.”
Along with the drum line, dozens of people among the approximately 250-300 pickets were also carrying cowbells and other noisemakers. The sound was audible from at least a block away, as were chants of “If we don’t get [a contract], shut it down!” Eventually enough people were present that the picket line was able to wrap all the way around a square block.
As with other picket lines, the writers were joined by members of several other unions, including SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, and more. Several notable actors were also present, including “Better Call Saul” star Bob Odenkirk, F. Murray Abraham, and Anthony Rapp. Michelle Hurd, who serves as SAG-AFTRA’s LA vice president, was also present.
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