via https://ift.tt/78PQCjY
lettersfromtitan
https://lettersfromtitan.tumblr.com/post/733178333763895296/im-a-sag-aftra-strike-captain-and-a-member-of
:
I’m a SAG-AFTRA strike captain and a member of fandom since forever. And if
you’re a fan or consumer who wants to help (and I know many of you already
have) it looks like this is the week especially if you are in NYC or LA.
Right now, it’s Sunday November 5, 2023 in the afternoon and SAG-AFTRA’s
negotiating committee are still reviewing what AMPTP have claimed is their
“last, best, and final” offer. They gave WGA three different offers with
this phrasing (the third one was actually the great deal the union agreed
to), so we know it’s not last or final, and we don’t yet know if it’s best.
But as we wait for official word from the negotiating committee, we must be
prepared for our response if this is not the deal we need.
At this point, it sure looks like pickets are going to need to happen
tomorrow, Monday, November 6, 2023. And if they are, those pickets may be
the most important of the entire strike. They’ll send a message to the
AMPTP, to the media, to our negotiating committee, and to our membership,
industry, and union siblings.
If you are in NYC or LA, we need you to find five minutes (or more) of your
day and come out an join us tomorrow. If you are a fan or a consumer who
has been eager for a way to help, this is gonna be the day. If you can get
to a picket line, please come.
Picketing is hard work, but joining a picket for whatever time you have to
give us is easy.
The rest of this post is entirely about demystifying what to expect for our
allies that haven’t been on the line yet.
When you show up at a picket location (there’s a link to find picket
locations attached to this post), you’ll see a SAG-AFTRA tent. You should
go there and check in.
If you’re in the union, they’ll ask for your membership card. If you’re
not, they’ll either have a book for you to enter your info in by hand or a
QR code for you to scan to fill out a brief online form.
They’ll hand you a sign, offer you shirts/hats/pins/stickers (all free and
all dependent on what got sent to that site that day), and point out other
free stuff they have that you might need — like water, snacks, and ear
plugs (it gets loud).
After that, you’ll join us on the line. You can chant if you want. You can
also bring noisemakers if you want. Sometimes we have dance breaks. At my
site we also pause for historical facts about labor history, and have a
union song singalong with live music most days.
Take a rest when you need to rest. Stay as long or as short as you want.
When you leave, just turn in your sign and take off. No explanations needed.
No one is gonna quiz you on your time commitment, your actorly history, or
anything else. Sometimes people are chatty, sometimes people are focused on
the task. Both are okay.
Full disclosure: Accessibility has been learn-as-we-go and imperfect. That
said, we regularly have wheelchair and other mobility aid users and blind
and low-vision people at our pickets. We also have ASL interpreters
available at least some of the time. You are welcome, and we will make it
work.
If you wanna bring your kids, bring your kids. If you wanna bring you
dog/cat/bird/lizard — totally chill if appropriately leashed/contained and
we will put SAG shirts on your pet if your your pet wants a shirt and we
have appropriate sizes.
Picket schedule and locations for week of November 6 available at this
link: https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/picket-schedule-locations (Los Angeles
and New York always have stuff scheduled. Other locations are less
frequent).
signal boosting
(Your picture was not posted)