Aloha kakou,
As I’m sure you’re all aware, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went out on strike as of 12:01 am ET Tuesday, May 2nd, 2023 (6:01 pm HST Monday, 05/01/23). Anyone working under the ASA is expressly granted the right to honor any lawful picket line. If there is no picket line at your work site, you may report to work as you normally do. At the time of writing, there are no picket lines scheduled for entertainment industry work sites in Hawai’i that I am aware of. An updated WGA picket schedule can be found here (or copy and paste this link in your browser: wgacontract2023.org/strike/picket-schedules-and-locations)
We will be closely monitoring the situation on our end, but you’re our boots on the ground. If you report to work and find that a picket line has been established, please contact me or the Hall as soon as possible with the address, employer, and specific entrance of the facility/worksite (it’s weird, I know, but it matters) so that we can confirm its legitimacy and spread the word. Should you encounter a picket line on one of our worksites, I encourage you to honor it by not crossing. It’s the same support that we would ask of other entertainment unions if we were in their position. I’m coordinating with Teamsters 996 and SAG-AFTRA to share information among Hawai’i entertainment unions regarding the WGA strike. As updates are received on our end, we’ll get them to you as soon as possible.
Additionally, should you encounter a lawful picket line at work, it is very important that you contact your supervisor and inform them that you’ll be exercising your contractual right to honor a picket line. In addition to a phone call, email your supervisor with the subject line “_____ Strike at our worksite” and Cc documents@iatse665.org. This way, there will be documentation that you alerted your supervisor. If you do not do these things, it could be considered a no call/no show, which could result in termination.
In Solidarity,
Tuia’ana Scanlan
President, IATSE Local 665
he/him/his