Fun fact: This is the first time since 1960 that the actor's and writer's guilds are striking at the same time.
The leader of the actor's guild in 1960 who signed off on that strike? Ronald Reagan.
The leader of the actor's guild in 1960 who signed off on that strike? Ronald Reagan.
> On August 5, following the PATCO workers' refusal to return to work, the Reagan administration fired the 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order, and banned them from federal service for life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Contr...
Air traffic controllers weren’t even allowed to strike given how critical their jobs are and could have paralyzed the entire country. Comparing that to actors is nonsensical.
He called their bluff and brought in replacements. Hollywood can do the same.
This was the exact same paradox that essential healthcare workers faced during the pandemic. Too important to give time off, but not important enough to properly compensate.
Presumably if actors pick this as a hill to die on, well, suddenly there'll be even more surplus supply of actors to demand because the easy roles are VFX, and at that point Hollywood can just break the unions with scabs.
His administration actually made some pretty generous offers in the negotiations. Part of the reason the negotiations broke down is because PATCO's radical wing, which believed that getting the best deal required striking first, ended up in control by the time the Reagan administration came to power. That soured Reagan's position since he felt, despite the generous offers, that the negotiations were being handled in bad faith.
Check out his stump speech for Truman[1]. Quick highlight quote:
“Remember that promise: a real increase in income for everybody. But what actually happened? The profits of corporations have doubled, while workers wages have increased by only one-quarter. In other words, profits have gone up four times as much as wages, and the small increase workers did receive was was more than eaten up by rising prices, which have also bored into their savings” - Somehow Ronald Reagan
come-on man, at least try to shill more effectively. this is almost insulting.
― Ronald Reagan
― Ronald Reagan
Yeah, soothing words from the head of the government...