Hitting the Bricks

This has been percolating for a wee bit:

... [L]ooks like there’s no escape from an IATSE picket line for The Great Escape, a new TNT reality show. ... The feet hit the street Saturday morning, with a strike declared just hours after IATSE labeled the show’s producer, Profiles Entertainment, an unfair employer for allegedly obstructing the union’s organizing efforts.

Add On: All's well that ends well:

... [A]fter seven hours, IATSE called off its strike against Profiles Entertainment’s The Great Escape, a new TNT reality show about ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges. The union and the production entity, TGE Productions, have reached an agreement, IATSE and the company said.

An actual contract, embodying pension, health and working conditions, will now be negotiated, but the union was comfortable enough to end the walkout. ...

On a related topic, shuttling around to different studios the last few weeks, I've been asked a lot if the Animation Guild will go on strike if we don't get much of anywhere in our contract talks (resuming next week.)

I've explained that going on strike is a complicated process because:

1) The contract has to run out first, which would take us to the first week of August.

2) Our Mother International (the IATSE) has to authorize a strike, and then

3) The membership has to vote for a strike action.

Now, I happen to be an optimist. I think we'll reach an agreement next week when we sit down to bargain with our friendly neighborhood conglomerates. Over the past week and a half, we've gotten input from members about where they want to go and where they want to end up. Hopefully the producers will see the light on Tuesday and Wednesday next, and all will be peace and gladness.

But whatever happens, we will be updating folks about it here, and on the website, and by e-mail. In the meantime, think happy thoughts.