One month of the US film and television writers' strike

The writers, supported by actors, producers, directors and others, have shown their determination to win their entirely legitimate demands. More than that, many have evinced enormous hostility toward their employers on the picket lines, at rallies and in interviews. Prominent figures in films and television have been only too eager to express their backing for the writers and their antagonism for the conglomerates.

Various factors are no doubt at work.

The writers specifically have seen a rotten agreement the Writers Guild (WGA) struck with the studios and networks in the 1980s on compensation for residuals (royalties) on the sale of DVDs cost them a vast sum. And it’s not simply that this money didn’t go into their pockets, but it helped enrich the multimillionaires and billionaires who own the entertainment conglomerates. These are largely hated figures, deservedly so.

Like everyone else in the US, the writers have witnessed the growth before their eyes of a vast social chasm between the elite in their industry and themselves, along with actors, directors, independent producers, crew and, of course, tens of thousands of lower-paid workers.

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