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.
