Friend,
Last week, members of the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA went on strike to protest labor abuses and wage theft after studio heads once again failed to meet the union with a fair contract.
SAG-AFTRA joins the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America – marking the first time the two unions have jointly walked out in 63 years!
At the same time, we are monitoring negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters, who are also set to strike if UPS fails to deliver a fair contract by the end of this month.
What is happening with all of these strikes and potential strikes signifies something much bigger than any one industry or company. Much like the union efforts at Amazon, Starbucks and elsewhere, this surge of labor organizing represents another rumble in a coming gigantic earthquake – one that will utterly collapse the economic status quo.
Together, such efforts will overthrow a paradigm by which a few with tremendous capital economically tyrannize those simply struggling to get by.
According to the LA Times, the top ten studio executives in Hollywood took home over $2.25 billion in compensation over the last five years. Meanwhile, many WGA and SAG-AFTRA members don’t even earn enough to qualify for health insurance through their union.
All of this points to the deep rot of corporate greed and a government structured to service that greed. That is what I aim to change when I am elected president.
