Crossed The Line

 As discussed here at length a year ago, I am nothing but ambivalent when it comes to my membership in a union. The division between the responsibility I feel to my fellow teachers versus that I feel for the families that I serve is one I feel deeply every time some sort of work action comes up. Each day that we are out on the picket line is a day that we are asking students to park their education on the curb and wait patiently for us to settle our differences with management. 

While it is true that the majority of the discussions I have had over the years regarding teachers' salaries suggest that there is solid support of our efforts to continue our campaign for a living wage. A quick note here: I do not tend to have discussions about teacher compensation with Republicans. For that matter, I do not tend to have discussions about much of consequence with Republicans. 

All of this to say that I am pleased to have our last strike in the rearview mirror, and hope that I make it safely to the shores of retirement before my union gets it into their collective head to go out on the picket line again. 

All of this ambivalence does not keep me from raising an eyebrow when I hear that Drew Barrymore and Bill Maher are crossing their own picket lines to return to the generation of their eponymous chat shows. Bill Maher was already on record for being less than enthusiastic about supporting his fellow writers and performers. Bill has never shied away from being the only voice in a room shouting a particular opinion, and his decision to come back to his show without the writers who create his monologue and other scripted pieces in the "comedy cavalcade" that is "Real Time" allows him to do simply that: Spout his opinions to an empty room. It's pretty clear that this is all about Bill. 

Drew Barrymore, by contrast, started the strike ball rolling by dropping out as the host of MTV's Movie Awards back in May. This gesture of solidarity was a shot in the arm for the Writers Guild of America, who had yet to be joined by their brothers and sisters in the Screen Actors Guild. Now that both unions are on strike together, it seems dubious that Ms. Barrymore would choose to creep back across the line to renew production of her talk show. The rules regarding talks shows, game shows and soap operas were revised a year ago, and as a result do not come in direct conflict with the work stoppage. Except for the use of WGA writers who would normally be filling in those blank spots that show up frequently in those hour long discussions of what Drew finds interesting. As a member in long standing of a family of thespians and a card carrying member of SAG, she will be walking the same thin line described by Mister Maher. 

Somewhere in here is the suggestion that these two are doing this to be able to provide a return to work to those employees of their companies that are impacted by the work stoppage. They have also kicked the door wide open for other challenged productions to bring in those who have suffered due to the four months of being out on strike. Specifically those who need to work to survive. The reality is this: Those people are not Drew Barrymore or Bill Maher. What they need is that spotlight and the feeling that their words, written or not, need to be out there in the world. 

Meanwhile, the despots at CBS and HBO continue to roll around in their vaults filled with the money generated by the work of artists. And the artists remain on the picket line.