Just got this from Brian Trester…
I had a few questions about the writers guild and your thoughts on strikes and non union workers being called in.
I know that in the past you have stated you do not like them and listed a good number of reasons why. I am just wondering if you could ever defend a reason for crossing the picket line. An example may be a new writer seeing it as his chance to finally get some work sold or turned in. They may see this as a break and their only chance to land a big time deal (big for them) and maybe launching their career.
The second reason could be what if I am happy with my current deal and feel the company I am working for or producer has been more than fair with me. I may have signed a contract saying I will do so many shows for X amount of money. If the strike begins while I am under a contract do I honor my contract and be called a scab or do I join the strike and thus break a deal I had agreed to. To me I feel if I agree to a deal I should stick it out until the end. then when its met I can join the strike as my commitment is done. I do not know the rules about this so it may already be addressed.
I know writers especially in the past were treated very poorly paid poorly in comparison to say the actors and other members of the production team and often were not given credit for work done. I believe late night shows are still like this as I do not remember them giving credit to writers for what they did on the show.
I guess I am just curious as to your thoughts if its ever ok to cross a line or continue work if a strike is called and if so what would you think would be a good exception.
I can't think of a scenario I would consider a good exception. To me, the two scenarios you mention are certainly not.
I'm sure when the WGA goes on strike, every wanna-be writer in the world wonders if this could be their chance. It really isn't. First of all, most producers don't want someone whose work is only "good enough" when the real pros aren't available. This is why when the guild does go on strike, very few scab scripts are bought.
Most shows do shut down because the folks in charge don't want to stay in production with the kind of scripts they can get. Usually, the soap operas manage to keep going and they're usually unhappy with what winds up going on the air…and how the temps screw up the long-range continuity of the series.
Secondly on that or any scenario: It's kind of weasely to cross that picket line. You want the great salary and other benefits that have been won by past strikes but you're not willing to support the system that won them? Even I, gentleman that I am, might not be polite enough to not tell you what I think of you. I sure don't see "But it could be my big break" as even the tiniest justification for that.
As for the other scenario: Yes, you might be quite happy with the current deal you have. So are most of the writers who walk out when there's a strike. But there are specific issues to any strike, most of which could affect your next deal or the right of the guild to police any deal. You have to look at the long game here. If the guild is weakened, that's not good for you. Your pension and health benefits could get cut back. Your residuals could get lowered. Their ability to fight for your rights can be impaired. Those are just a few examples in a long, long list.
If you're working on a Guild-covered project for a company that's a signatory to the Guild, you're working under the Guild's Minimum Basic Agreement. That's the deal they make on behalf of their membership with the AMPTP (these guys). Your own personal contract is kind of like an add-on to that. It may just say the terms of your employment will be the terms of the MBA or it may say that plus specify certain terms and compensation you receive above and beyond the MBA.
Either way, when the Guild calls a strike, it's because the MBA has expired and the WGA and the AMPTP have been unable to agree on a new one. So if the WGA doesn't have a contract, you don't have a contract.
In 1988 when the WGA went on strike, I was writing a screenplay for one of the bigger studios. I believe I started on it the second week of February and my first draft was due some time in April. But then the Guild went out the first week of March and I stopped writing. That's how it works. I was not in violation of my contract. Even though it paid me more than WGA minimum, my contract was under the MBA so when there was no MBA in place, time stood still on my deal. Only when the new MBA was signed months later did work resume.
As it turned out, the script I wrote was never made. By the time I handed it in, the folks at the studio who'd commissioned it had been replaced and their successors didn't want to make anything approved by the folks who'd been fired. That kind of thing happens all the time in Hollywood even when there is no strike.
Would it have been made if I'd finished it as per the original schedule? Would it have been a big hit that would have boosted my income and career? Those are two questions no one can ever answer with any certainty but there's a very slim chance there of two yeses. And if you spend any time as a professional writer, you'll have an endless supply of that kind of question. They'll spring from every offer you turn down, every project that for any reason doesn't happen. You can't run your career or even your life — in the unlikely event you view those as two separate things — based on what might have happened.
You have to look at the bigger picture. In about three weeks, I will have been a professional writer for half a friggin' century. I have worked for producers less rooted in morals than Harvey Weinstein and publishers less ethical than the guy on the cover of Trump Magazine. I have also worked for very good, honest people and companies in both categories, including some I respect greatly.
If I have learned nothing else in over 18,000 days (My God!!!) in my chosen profession, I have learned the difference between being treated well and treated poorly. There's a reason I would never do anything to undermine the Writers Guild of America.
Forgive the long speech, Brian. It's what happens when you poke a sensitive area and you stumbled across one of mine.