Most Hollywood and New York writers, actors and actresses, are work-a-day Americans, living precariously paycheck to paycheck, without much of a cushion, worried about paying the rent or the mortgage. Like all workers they want to benefit from the fruits of their labor. When a movie goes to a streaming service and becomes popular and brings in substantial revenue for the company, they rightly expect to benefit from the success they created.
The most prominent members of the trade, the so-called stars, the "A-Listers" are on the picket lines with their brothers and sisters, because this is a fight for human values over corporate values, for human intelligence over artificial intelligence, for what is real over what is unreal.
It is about taking a stand for the human values of rewarding work, celebrating intellectual ability,
Our lives have often been enriched from the creative content of movies and TV shows and the extraordinary work of actors and actresses portraying the breadth and depth of human experience.
Today corporations and the hedge funds which own some of them want to take artifice and sell it as the real deal. It is time to push back.
This Labor Day let us take a stand for the rights of all workers, and, in particular, members of the WGA and the SAG by insisting upon human dignity and
The Right to Organize.
The Right to Collective Bargaining.
The Right to Strike.
The Right to Decent Wages and Benefits.
The Right to a Safe Work Place.
The Right to Sue if Injured on the Job.
The Right to a Secure Retirement.
The Right to Participate in the Political Process.
These are Workers' Rights. These are Human Economic Rights. These represent the triumph of human dignity and true freedom. But only if we are willing to take a stand.
Dennis J. Kucinich is a retired member of the International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE). He has been a member of the American Newspaper Guild, (ANG), and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA).
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