11/28/2007

SERVICE EMPLOYEES RALLY TOMORROW



The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been very supportive of our strike. They've paid for billboards reading, "Hey Studios... Do the Write Thing. 1.9 million janitors, healthcare workers, public employees, and security officers support the writers' struggle for fairness." At last week's union solidarity rally they marched with us, as they have on several other occasions.

Now we have a chance to return the favor. The SEIU Security Officer Local (SOULA Local 2006) is asking WGA members to support them in their fight for justice.

Join them tomorrow,
Thursday, Nov. 29th
at 11:00 am
at 1247 W. 7th Street (7th & Bixel St)
in downtown LA.

From there SEIU will bus supporters to the SE corner of 5th and Flower St. (Library Park) for a short rally and march starting at 11:45am, and ending at 1:00 pm.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go SEIU...Thank you for your Drum Corps and spirit in Hollywood. Hey hey, ho, ho SEIU is good to go!

http://www.seiu.org/

Anonymous said...

Maybe the SEIU could represent the WGA staff?

says alot about a union, when their own staff, top, to bottom, doesn't get the same union protections that the members do...

Anonymous said...

What about our security staff? Are they members of seiu? How much do they make? If they were to strike would we (the WGA)contradict ourselves by hiring a scab security company, or should we fight along side them?

Patrick Meighan said...

I'll be there.

Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA

Patrick Meighan said...

"What about our security staff? Are they members of seiu? How much do they make? If they were to strike would we (the WGA)contradict ourselves by hiring a scab security company, or should we fight along side them?"

I don't know if our security staff is SEIU or not. Given the tenor of our current Guild leadership, I'd be shocked if we stood in the way of our guards' right to organize and bargain collectively, should they so choose.

Why, do you have information to the contrary? Or you just stirrin' stuff up, anonymous friend?

Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA

Anonymous said...

Patrick,
I have information to the contrary.

A failed organizing effort a couple of years ago- With Senior WGA staff engaging in the same scare tactics that is used by union busting consultants employed by corporate America.

Indeed the Staff is not union. Not for a lack of trying.

Please, don't take my word for it, do a little digging on your own. An obvious place to start is with any staff members that have left within the last 3 years.

signed,
Ex WGA staffer

Patrick Meighan said...

Anonymous (and how come no critics of the Guild ever have the courage to post under their own names?),

If what you say is true, has the SEIU issued any sort of condemnation whatsoever of the Guild's purported union-busting tactics? If so, can you point me to said condemnation? And can you explain why the SEIU locals chose to join the union-busting WGA's march just last Tuesday? And why did the SEIU take out a billboard in support of the union-busting WGA's efforts?

I'm confused by that.

I'd be happy to dig further, as you suggest, but I guess I'm gonna need some more specific information, please. And could you please post it under your own name? Given the fact that you now no longer work for the WGA, it seems you've got no reason to keep hidden. What're they gonna do, fire you a second time?

Thanks in advance,

Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA

Patrick Meighan said...

Just wanted you all to know that there was a very good turnout of WGA folks at the SOULA rally and march downtown today.

It was definitely a much smaller rally/march than the two that we WGA folks have put together. Maybe just a hundred folks or so. But the good news is that, I'd say, roughly *half* of those attendees were WGA folks in their (our) red shirts, with their (our) red picket signs, most of 'em altered to read something to the effect of: "WGA supports SEIU."

From my show, Family Guy, we had about 5 writers present (including myself), and there were a couple American Dad folks there as well, including one of the creators and showrunners, Matt Weitzman, who was banging on a drum the whole time. And I saw several other familiar faces from the Fox picket line I've been working all month, in addition to dozens of other fellow writers from elsewhere around town, one of whom (I believe he was a representative from the WGA labor outreach committee, or something like that) was handed the mic and delivered the message that we, the WGA, stand with them in thier fight.

All in all, rest assured, the WGA put in a good showing downtown today, and it appeared to be very well appreciated by the SEIU reps and the security guards, themselves, who, of course, are fighting for the right to organize and bargain collectively. In fact, several of the security guards and SEIU reps made a point of going writer by writer, through every single one of us, to shake our hands and thank us for marching with them.

In short, I was proud to be a WGA member, today.

Anyhoo, see you all at the Sony lot tomorrow, and then back to our regular pickets on Monday!

Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA