CMU School of Drama


Monday, October 03, 2011

WGA East Endorses Occupy Wall Street Protests

Backstage: The WGA East has come out swinging in support of the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, with union executive director Lowell Petersen praising protesters who have "call(ed) out the people and institutions that created the current crisis -- that is, the financial system that has diverted capital from productive enterprise into speculation that bestows huge paychecks on a tiny handful of people."

7 comments:

Calvin said...

Seeing that the writers guild joined the fray is very interesting, and I wonder what other unions will join. I'd be very interested to see what theatre folk will stand up for and what key issues they see in their mind. I know many of the issues like unemployment are true in all industries, but its an interesting time of protesting, and where we and our comrades fall in the issue is something I look forward to finding out.

Sophie said...

I have been hearing about Occupy Wall street for a little while now, but had no idea what is what about until now. I think it's great that unions are starting to join because it shows everyone is affected by unemployment, health care issues, and income inequalities, not just freelancers. Unions have some sort of job security and yet if they are protesting as well, then we see that they are not as well of as most think. The government is doing what it can, but the unemployment rate is still ridiculous, we need better health care, and we can't give tax breaks to the people who don't deserve it.

Jennifer said...

I am really glad that the writers guild has joined in the fight for the 99%. T This occupation will only succeed through mass attention by the country as a whole. We need to really grab our politicians attention and let them know that this problem will not go away until they fix the imbalances in this country's policies. Groups like the Marine Corps and the Writers Guild attaching their names to this cause will hopefully encourage more to follow suite and garner the due attention that this movement really needs.

cass.osterman said...

I am still in the process of understanding what this movement is about. And what I didn't know before doing some research was the organizational dynamics of the movement. As I have found, they use a tool called the "General Assembly" to facilitate open, participatory and horizontal organizing between members of the public. This tool is reflective of this day and age- especially considering the internet's influence. Also, I didn't realize this protest encompasses more than just NYC, but also Chicago and San Francisco. I wonder if this national movement will spread to another US city...

david p said...

We had a great discussion about the protest today in directing 2. It was mainly centered on the actual purpose of the protesting and what the participants were hoping to accomplish, which most of our class felt was rather unclear and disjointed, but we also touched on how long this is actually going to be "a thing." There's a prominent trend in our culture for something to make major headlines and then fade away shortly thereafter. Think of America as an audience and current events as a play. This protest was like a big reveal in the middle of act one, and unless the end of the act provides an even bigger, more interesting moment no one will want to stay for act two. Hopefully this keeps going for enough time for the protestors to establish themselves more and make some sort of positive changes.

Ethan Weil said...

I'm really excited to hear unions especially in entertainment involved in this movement. I do worry a little about how activism and union affiliation have been responded to in the past by the industry. I hope that the folks who are participating are safe from the persecution of the hollywood unionization era. Certainly the more organizations endorse this movement, the more momentum the movement will gain. I certainly have hope that it will make help them make a larger impact. Of course, it will help if the media will start to acknowledge the extent of the protest, rather than sweeping the story under the rug.

Margaret said...

It is great to see that the WGA East is supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement. This is an important step, because the WGA is not a blue-collar labor union like United Steelworkers or the Transport Workers Union. The WGA is a part of the more bourgeois, Artsy portion of society; a portion that is not always known for supporting the efforts of labor or the “99%” in this case. It is vital for the Arts to be a part of every person’s life, not just those who believer they can afford it. By supporting the Occupy Wall Street protests the WGA is helping to make the arts seem less inaccessible to the working class.