WRITERS GUILD IS TARGETING STRIKE-BREAKING MEMBERS
By John Horn
Associated Press
July 7, 1988
There are eight million stories in Hollywood, and the Writers Guild of America is using anonymous tips, inside leaks and library sleuths to make sure no new ones appear during its strike against producers.
"We are extremely anxious to find someone" who is breaking the strike, said Del Reisman, vice president of the West Coast branch of the guild. "We want to say, in effect, that the bad guys who are taking advantage of this strike are going to get caught."
Eight volunteer screenplay detectives from the 9,000-member guild have set out to identify any scriptwriters violating the 18-week strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
The guild's disciplinary committee, which meets once a week, has already recommended that the union try at least one television writer for performing unauthorized work. The maximum penalty, besides fines, is dismissal from the guild, which would effectively end a screenwriter's career.
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In entertainment-industry newspapers yesterday, the WGA published full-page advertisements warning writers that "the guild is actively investigating reports of individuals who are writing for struck companies."
The ads come at a time when the guild is trying to maintain strong union solidarity: Though the writers have approved a set of contracts with a number of independent producers, the guild rejected on June 22, by a 3-1 ratio, the latest offer of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the vast majority of producers.
The two sides are deadlocked over payments for domestic and foreign television reruns.
"This far into a strike, people's principles tend to wobble a bit," said Burt Prelutsky, chairman of the Writers Guild of America disciplinary committee. "We know that scabbing is going on. It's no secret that it's difficult to collect evidence. We get tips, and we try to track them down."
The long strike has resulted in sweeping layoffs among California's 230,000 entertainment workers.
In the case of coal miners or meat packers, it's easy to tell who's crossing picket lines and who isn't. But with scriptwriters, who often work at home or in a private office, spotting strikebreakers is more difficult.
Who, for example, is writing all the scripts for network soap operas?
"There is no indication that anybody in our guild is scabbing those soaps," Reisman said. "But they are being written by somebody."
Lee Phillip Bell, long-term story adviser for CBS's THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, said she didn't know who was writing the scripts for her show. ''We're trying not to be involved in that," she said.
Secretaries or production personnel writing soap operas will be barred from joining the guild if they apply for membership, Prelutsky said.
Jonathan Rintels, also a member of the disciplinary committee, said the group each week has interviewed two or three writers suspected of strikebreaking.
"The ones who co-operate usually have an explanation or say that they'll stop," Rintels said. "And there are a lot of gray areas (in the guild contract) so it is difficult to pinpoint whether somebody has actually scabbed."
The guild does receive phone calls. Rintel said, for instance, that a soap- opera actor might call the guild and say, "These scripts are being written by professional writers." He said the guild would investigate.
The guild also occasionally compares finished movie or television scripts with earlier versions.
All guild members were requested to file their scripts at the union headquarters when the strike began March 7.
"It's very easy to tell if a film is following the final rewrite of the script as registered or if there's been a complete rewrite," Reisman said.
Total revisions are prohibited during the strike; only minor line or scene changes can be made and only under certain conditions.
"Our strikes will work if they are supported by the members," said guild executive director Brian Walton. "If they're not supported, they won't."
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