Yahoo News Fran Drescher Visits New York Picket Lines, Tells Studios: “Yield to Our Deal”
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher joined the picket lines in New York on Thursday, armed with a new slogan that suggested the actors will not back down.
“We’re in it to win it. And our new hashtag is, ‘Yield to Our Deal,’” Drescher said.
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Speaking in front of the Netflix offices near Union Square, and flanked by former SAG presidents Melissa Gilbert and Richard Masur, Drescher urged the gathered union members to keep up their morale as the strike goes on, while touching on key issues such as residuals and the use of artificial intelligence.
“We have to keep up our resolve. We are not going to back down. We are not going to be stepped on anymore for CEO greed and Wall Street greed at our expense when they can’t do it without us,” Drescher said.
“We are the foundation of the wheel. Nobody can own our likeness,” she continued, referencing AI. “And our minimums have to meet with inflation. None of this other B.S. And we must get a piece of the platform that we are building for them.”
Before her speech, Drescher walked the picket line and greeted many enthusiastic SAG-AFTRA members, who thanked her for her leadership. Her trademark humor was on display, as she was introduced by Ezra Knight, the New York Local president for SAG-AFTRA, who called her “very powerful” and “very queenly. Regal.”
“That’s the first time anyone from Flushing was called queenly and regal,” she said, laughing.
Before stopping outside Netflix, Drescher also visited the picket lines in Times Square, outside Paramount’s office, and outside the Amazon and HBO Offices in Hudson Yards. The Nanny star spoke at a rally outside City Hall in New York on Tuesday, ahead of a City Council hearing on resolutions that express support for the actors and writers on strike and call for the studios to resume negotiations. The actors have been on strike since July 14, and the writers have been on strike since May 2.
The Writers Guild of America says the AMPTP has requested to meet with the union Friday, Aug. 4, to discuss negotiations, in what would be the first official meeting between the two groups since their strike began.
SAG-AFTRA has previously said that the actors union and AMPTP remain far apart on many issues, including minimum rate increases, regulations around the use of AI and higher “span” figures.
Drescher has also been making media appearances while in New York. Tuesday on the Today show, she said the union is financially prepared to be on strike for at least six months.
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