Striking writers plot major rally at Fox studio

By Carl DiOrio and Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Friday could test the mettle of studio suits as the Writers Guild of America strike enters its fifth day with no resolution in sight.

TV executives are juggling schedules, chopping episodes from season plans and trying to continue with business as usual on those shows still going before the cameras. Throw in a mass rally outside your gates and rumors of a Teamsters' work stoppage, and it seems safe to say that there could be a run on the office aspirin supply.

"Please be advised that the Writers Guild of America will be conducting a large strike rally with between 2,000 and 4,000 participants outside the Fox studio on Friday," Fox employees were alerted in a corporate e-mail Thursday.

Lest Fox employees take any of this personally, the memo added, "We anticipate the WGA will continue hosting rallies such as this at other studio locations in the weeks to come."

Several TV shows, including the Fox-produced series "How I Met Your Mother," are slated to wrap production on the lot Friday as their supply of available scripts runs dry, and other series also continue in production on the lot, including "Journeyman," "Bones" and "Shark." Most series have later call times of noon or so on Fridays, so even heavier-than-normal picketing would be especially disruptive then.

Yet if the WGA rally seemed sure to cause some anxiety on the lot, there also appeared to be signs that its planning was taxing those trying to mount the event.

Many of the guild's media alerts have been rather last minute ever since negotiations with the studios began in July. Of course, coordinating press stunts involving celebrities on picket lines can be tougher than herding cats, but generally speaking an early and detailed media alert produces the broadest coverage.

By late Thursday, there was still no official media alert on the event. A guild spokesman would confirm only that a rally had been set for 10 a.m. Friday.

Meanwhile, rumors also circulated Thursday of a possible one-day effort by the Teamsters to coordinate an unofficial show of solidarity with the WGA by refusing to cross picket lines at any studio lot.

"We have heard that they're going to do one day of totally honoring the strike," said a studio executive, who added that the rumor circulated before word of the mass labor rally at Fox.

A union source said it was possible Teamster rank and file could try to coordinate sympathy actions at some of the other lots around town, almost at any point.

Of all the unions working in Hollywood, only the Teamsters have a contract with specific language allowing some members to honor picket lines. The language allows individuals fearing for their personal safety in crossing picket lines to refuse to do so without fear of retribution from employers.

Such situations are limited to instances "where there is actual and imminent danger of bodily harm to the employee" under the Teamsters' labor contract with the studios.

By and large, Teamsters have carried on their duties, even when writers went to the picket lines as early as 4 a.m.-5 a.m. before TV shows' call times.

The Screen Actors Guild, whose members have joined WGA picket lines in their personal time, has no such contract language. So actors wishing to avoid crossing picket lines have called in sick.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter