With Contract Deadline Looming, The WGA Dispatches Its Red-Shirted Army
Following yesterday afternoon's announcement that the Teamsters will honor WGA picket lines during a possible strike—even though the organization can't walk out while they still have a contract with the studios, individuals can make the decision not to cross the writers' line without being disciplined—a work stoppage suddenly seems (dare we allow ourselves to even say it?) less of an inevitability, as the possibility of Teamster muscle backing up the scribes is certainly more intimidating than the presence of the skinny-armed reinforcements the union called upon the last time they needed some back-up. Additionally, a tipster tells us that the Guild already had about 15 members of its red-shirted army stationed outside of the Sony lot at 7 AM (do let us know where else you spot them), handing out "Negotiation Update" flyers urging workers to, "Please encourage the companies to bargain seriously with the Writers Guild, and let the writers on your show know you support their fair and reasonable stand."
Looks like it's going to be a fun couple of days! We'll be anxiously awaiting subsequent reports that the AMPTP has dispatched reps to counter-flyer the studio lots, handing out their own literature explaining, "The WGA would rather waste its time littering your workplace with its propaganda than considering our incredibly generous proposals. Clearly they are maniacally dedicated to impoverishing you and your loved ones with a disastrous strike."
UPDATE: Another tipster tells us they're also "redshirting it up" over at Fox.
UPDATE 2: A reader who was part of the Sony flyering effort estimates that they had about 50 people covering the lot's various gates staring around 6 a.m., and that people were "pretty supportive," and that anyone who seemed taken aback by the appearance of the redshirts were more against the idea of being handed a flyer first thing in the morning than the writers' cause.
UPDATE 3: And more redshirts spotted at Universal. (And according to a commenter below, at WB and Disney.) Seems like they had the town completely covered this morning.
UPDATE 3: They were even at the Sunset Gower lot! The WGA is really committed to making sure every last person in Hollywood gets a flier today.