Barry Eidlin guest hosts today, talking to WGA leader-activists Alex O’Keefe, organizer and award-winning writer for The Bear, and Howard Rodman, writer and former president of the WGA. On September 24, after 146 days on strike, the WGA and the AMPTP announced a tentative agreement for the contract covering 11,500 film and TV screenwriters across the country. The WGA Negotiating Committee West and East voted unanimously to recommend the agreement, and on September 27, the strike was suspended. The strike is not over — WGA members still have to discuss the tentative agreement and vote on whether or not to ratify it by October 9. What do writers think of this deal after five months on strike? And what are the broader implications of the deal for writers and other workers in Hollywood and beyond? Based on what’s in the tentative agreement, the writers have won big. But beyond the contract language, writers have won something greater: a new sense of solidarity and the power they have as workers. That could be crucial as the class struggle continues in Hollywood and beyond: film and TV actors are still on strike, video game actors recently authorized a strike, and Teamsters and IATSE workers will be negotiating their contracts next year. Writers and other Hollywood workers have been joining the rallies and picket lines of other workers like UPS Teamsters, Big 3 auto workers, hotel workers, and more. It looks like the Hot Labor Summer may be transitioning into a Fiery Labor Fall.
Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.