{"id":134570,"date":"2023-10-03T22:59:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T22:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=134570"},"modified":"2023-10-03T22:59:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T22:59:06","slug":"dispatches-from-the-picket-lines-transportation-workers-rally-with-striking-actors-at-nbcu-in-manhattan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/dispatches-from-the-picket-lines-transportation-workers-rally-with-striking-actors-at-nbcu-in-manhattan\/","title":{"rendered":"Dispatches From The Picket Lines: Transportation Workers Rally With Striking Actors At NBCU In Manhattan"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is Day 83 of the SAG-AFTRA strike. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The language was salty but the mood was upbeat at a union rally in Midtown Manhattan by striking actors and their supporters from the 150,000-member Transportation Workers Union. <\/p>\n With talks between the actors union and the production studios paused until Wednesday, the crowd at SAG-AFTRA’s solidarity picket with the TWU filled two lanes of the street outside NBCUniversal headquarters and made a sometimes NSFW din that could be heard for blocks. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oscar-winning actor F. Murray Abraham, one of the rally speakers, dropped an F-bomb in remarks calling for all working Americans to receive a livable wage and health care. “And since our corrupt Congress won’t give that to us, we got a f*ckin’ union,” he said to cheers.<\/p>\n But it was TWU chief John Samuelson who really let fly, railing at “p*ick bosses” in a pugilistic speech that compared contract negotiations to fist fighting. <\/p>\n “And this is how you win a fight,” Samuelson said. “You keep throwing punches viciously, relentlessly, endlessly until you land one that decks the boss. That’s how you do it.”<\/p>\n SAG-AFTRA leaders in New York called off their usual daily pickets at three other locations to boost turnout at a rally that was attended by actors, writers, stagehands and rank-and-file TWU members — a workforce ranging from flight attendants and bus drivers to New York’s Citi Bike ride-share maintenance crews. <\/p>\n With the writers strike over and the actors strike in its 83rd day, SAG-AFTRA’s New York local executive director, Rebecca Damon, told the crowd, “I would much rather our staff was visiting you on a film set.” But the strike would continue, Damon said, “until we have the deal — a deal that SAG-AFTRA members deserve.”<\/p>\n On the podium with Damon were actors including Stephen Lang, Jill Hennessy, Megan Boone, Rosemary Harris and Bill Irwin. Lang took a turn at the microphone and welcomed “all you makers of good trouble,” a phrase popularized by the late Georgia congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis. He also congratulated the Writers Guild for its “great success” in winning a contract after 148 days on strike.<\/p>\n “Well done, scribes,” Lang said, adding, “It’s our turn at the table now, and we want to get back to work.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\nRelated Stories<\/h3>\n
SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreements: Full List Of Movies And TV Series<\/h3>\n
Dispatches From The Picket Line: Actors Including Jon Cryer Are “Cautiously Optimistic” As Talks Restart<\/h3>\n
Must Read Stories<\/h2>\n
McCarthy Ousted As House Speaker; Trump Ordered To Shut Up Or Face Jail<\/h3>\n
‘Exorcist: Believer’ Stalks Franchise-Best $30M+ Bow: Weekend Preview<\/h3>\n
Teatro della Pace Films Buys Saul Zaentz Film Library, Including 3 Best Picture Winners<\/h3>\n
SAG-AFTRA & Studio CEOs Back To Table Tomorrow After “Constructive” Talks<\/h3>\n
Read More About:<\/h2>\n