has steered the actors guild through its months-long strike. On the heels of Hollywood studios abruptly breaking off talks with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists () this week, the actor and union president says she바카라s baffled and disappointed.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced Wednesday that they had suspended contract negotiations, saying the gap between the two sides was too great to make continuing worth it and characterising their offer as good as the one that recently ended the writers strike.
Drescher told The Associated Press in a Thursday interview that she did not understand why negotiations collapsed but that her union바카라s resolve has not weakened.
The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: Can you talk about what happened in your negotiations with the AMPTP?
DRESCHER: They had given us a proposal package. We worked for like 36 hours on it. We brought it back to them. We walked them through it and they left and then called a few hours later and said, 바카라We바카라re breaking negotiations.바카라 So it바카라s not only baffling but wholly disappointing and counterproductive.
I바카라ve never really met people that actually don바카라t understand what negotiations mean. Why are you walking away from the table? To what end do you hope that that will accomplish anything?
And actually, my members are more pumped up than ever. They feel so insulted by this, so degraded by this and dishonoured by this that it바카라s like, 바카라Fran, do not cave. Remain strong. Hold onto your resolve because this can바카라t be for nothing.바카라
AP: Can you talk about the mood of the conversations before they broke off? Was there a sense that talks would be smoother after the studios reached a deal with the Writers Guild of America (WGA)?
DRESCHER: With the writers guild also, they broke negotiations with that too. So now that a contract has been agreed upon, everybody바카라s all warm and fuzzy. But at the time, I think it was very contentious. They don바카라t like to give away ice in winter.
So I바카라ve never really dealt with this kind of affront, of indignation and a need to get their own way. I think that they바카라re very used to getting their own way. I think that the idea that we want to go into a pocket to compensate for the lack of income that we cannot get for our working members in a streaming model is just so repugnant to them.
And they just feel like, 바카라Who are we to want to get compensated the way we used to be? Who are we to think that we deserve to make an honest wage that meets inflation? Who are we to challenge them in any way? We should be so lucky to get whatever they want because they바카라re the bosses.바카라
And I keep pointing out to them that that kind of business practice is unsustainable nowadays. It was maybe something that people bought into in the 20th century. But that 바카라dog eat dog, the bottom line is the bottom line,바카라 it just doesn바카라t pan out.
And we can바카라t think that way anymore. You can바카라t go into a whole new business and not question how this is going to impact the foundational contributors to your business. And that바카라s exactly what they did. And now they바카라re like annoyed at us for pointing out the problem.
It바카라s really like an alternate universe. I can바카라t even believe it. And I keep trying to put it into a global context that they have a responsibility to workers. They바카라re leaders in the industry. They should set the example for industries around the world. This is their opportunity as well to raise the bar on how employers deal with workers. How they thank them, how they include them, how they treat them like people.
AP: This will officially be the longest strike in your guild바카라s history next week. What are your thoughts on how we got here?
DRESCHER: Well, I think it바카라s indicative of the fact that they stopped talking to us back on July 12 and didn바카라t come back until less than 10 days ago. You know, we바카라ve only met with them a couple of times. Monday, half a day Wednesday, half a day Friday. That was what they were available for. Then this past week, it was Monday and a half a day on Wednesday. And then 바카라Bye bye.바카라
I don바카라t even know what they바카라re thinking. But I did say to them, 바카라With all due respect, we have been waiting for you to come back.바카라 We wanted to avert a strike. We extended an unprecedented extension and we called them in the eleventh hour...
They don바카라t really want to negotiate. They just want us to like what they want us to like. They don바카라t want us to have a mind. They don바카라t want us to have a thought. They don바카라t want us to have feelings or complain that we can바카라t make a living and we can바카라t support our families and we바카라re having problems paying the rent.
They don바카라t want to hear about it because they keep giving us this huge inflated number of how much they바카라re spending on production and how much they바카라re paying out to our union in salary.
But it바카라s all divided up amongst so many thousands of people that it doesn바카라t add up to anything except for our highest paying earners, which I have zero problem with. And we바카라re fighting for them as well with AI. They바카라re very concerned about their likeness, their essence of being. The thing that makes them a star is going to be ripped off, going to be turned into something that바카라s hardly even recognizable.
AP: So, what now?
DRESCHER: Well, they called and said, 바카라We바카라re walking away. We바카라re breaking negotiations.바카라 Now, we바카라re in the midst of a serious negotiating committee meeting. Everybody went out on the picket lines today (Thursday). The resolve is very strong.
So I think that they think that we바카라re going to cower, but that바카라s never going to happen because this is a crossroads and we must stay on course.
