ON STRIKE writers of US daytime TV dramas, short stories and online serials are set to host a special picket event, Daytime United, in Hollywood today.
With strong support from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), an all-star cast of actors from popular daytime dramas, along with directors, crew, and series staff, will join the picket line in solidarity with striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers.
Daytime actors scheduled to appear include: Susan Flannery and Lesley-Anne Down (The Bold & the Beautiful), Eric Braeden (The Young & the Restless), Jackie Zeman and Sebastian Roche (General Hospital), Stephen Nichols, Lauren Koslow, Peggy McCay, and Patrika Darbo (Days of Our Lives), Galen Gering and Danika Stewart (Passions), Kam Heskin, Ken Luckey, Patricia ‘Elena’ Campbell-Martinez, and Noah Schuffman (Coastal Dreams), and Eden Riegel (All My Children).
The picket is scheduled to take place from 10.00am to 2.00pm outside CBS TV Studios, 7800 Beverly Boulevard.
This comes as the dispute hardened last week with the WGA on Thursday accusing studio negotiators of acting unlawfully by severing negotiations, and stars saying they will not cross picket lines outside the Golden Globe and Oscars ceremonies.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has already contacted the WGA to request that the body issues a waiver for its Golden Globes show on January 13, allowing guild members to be hired to write the show’s script.
But the WGA has refused to speculate on whether it will grant the Globes organisers’ request.
WGA spokesman Gregg Mitchell told reporters it was ‘too early to tell’ whether a waiver would be issued.
Mitchell told the Washington Post, however, that organisers would face a challenge ‘to make a high-quality, entertaining show without the writers who are members of the guild.’
David Cronenberg, the director of gangster drama ‘Eastern Promises’, which has been nominated for best picture at the Golden Globes, said: ‘It would be very hard for me to cross a WGA picket line.’
Cronenberg, a long-standing member of the WGA, added that ‘everybody will have the same problem.’
Film, TV and theatre star Glenn Close, who has been nominated for her performance in US television series ‘Damages’, said: ‘I would never cross a picket line.’
Meanwhile, host of the February 24 Oscars ceremony, writer Jon Stewart’s ‘Daily Show’ has been off the air since the strike began.
And Oscars organisers, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, are worried that the strike will hit the world famous ceremony, as guild writers are hired to provide the script for the Academy Awards.
In its statement last Thursday, the WGA said: ‘Today the WGA filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the AMPTP (Association of Motion Picture and Television producers) for its refusal to bargain in good faith with the WGA.
‘It is a clear violation of federal law for the AMPTP to issue an ultimatum and break off negotiations if we fail to cave to their illegal demands.
‘We are in the midst of the holiday season, with thousands of our members and the membership of other unions out of work.
‘It is the height of irresponsibility and intransigence for the AMPTP to refuse to negotiate a fair agreement with the WGA.
‘We reiterate our demand that the AMPTP immediately return to the negotiations, rather than going on vacation, so that this town can be put back to work.’
The WGA concluded: ‘Our strike will end when the companies return to negotiations and make a fair deal with the WGA.’
