SAG-AFTRA national president Fran Drescher stopped off at multiple picket lines in New York on Thursday to rally the members of the guild as their strike continues.
“I just want to say I am so grateful for your enthusiasm and your commitment to this strike,” Drescher told the pickets outside HBO’s New York offices. “It means everything. It’s so important that we stay united. It is essential that we hold firm and stand tall because this is a seminal negotiation. We cannot go back to the way things were. Too much has changed. They have to wake up and smell the coffee!”
SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14 after the guild and the AMPTP, which represents the major Hollywood studios and streamers, failed to come to terms on a new contract. Drescher was joined on the picket line by SAG-AFTRA’s New York Local president Ezra Knight as well as by former SAG presidents Richard Masur and Melissa Gilbert and Michelle Hurd, the Los Angeles Local vice president.
Earlier, at a picket line outside Paramount’s offices near Times Square, Drescher said “I promise you that we are not going to compromise…There is no turning back. At some point you have to say ‘We’ve had enough. We’re not going to get marginalized out of our livelihoods anymore!’”
Drescher’s remarks at both picket lines can be seen in their entirety below.
While SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for nearly a month, Hollywood’s writers have been on strike since May 2. There may soon be some movement on that front, however. Earlier this week, Variety reported that the AMPTP had reached out to the WGA to discuss resuming negotiations. Representatives for those two groups are expected to meet on Friday.