Letters to the Editor: It isn’t just actors and writers on strike. Workers are rising up against ‘greed-flation’
To the editor: I never discussed with my grandparents why they immigrated to America. I believe they wanted to get a foothold on the first rung of the capitalist ladder, at least for their progeny. Through their suffering and hard work, I’m fortunate to have climbed several rungs higher. (“Hollywood actors hit picket lines as SAG-AFTRA joins WGA in historic double strike,” July 14)
Sadly, statistics show my luck is rare today. Highly educated people are stumbling. Those without an education or special skills flounder from paycheck to paycheck, sometimes finding themselves employed but homeless. Why has this happened?
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the typical CEO of the 1960s made 20 times what one of his average employees did. In 2022, according to an AFL-CIO report, the ratio climbed to 324-1. That’s not inflation — that’s “greed-flation.”
It’s no surprise that people outside the 1% are rising up. We are seeing strikes for better pay in many industries. The Hollywood studios fighting SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America whine about poverty, while Warner Bros Discovery paid its chief executive a compensation package in excess of $246 million in 2021.
This labor uprising isn’t an anomaly. Until corporate greed-flation succumbs to a more equitable business ethos — the ones from which my immigrant grandparents benefited — corporate captains will continue to face labor strife.
Buz Wolf, Big Bear Lake
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To the editor: I am a member of several entertainment unions and have attended informational meetings with industry financial analysts. Their conclusion is that many studios will profit from a strike lasting between six and eight months.
They can burn off back product and cancel expensive ongoing deals with creators, invoking force majeure. Many streamers spent far too much producing their shows, and with a decline in subscribers, they are feeling the pinch.
The studios are trying to balance their books on the backs of writers and actors who weren’t responsible for their financial miscalculations.
Robert Trebor, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Is it just me, or is there nothing more insulting to a working person than having billionaire Bob Iger, chief executive of Disney, tell people just trying to work enough to earn $26,000 a year in order to keep their union healthcare, that their demands are not “realistic”?
Let ’em eat cake, Bob.
Jeff Heister, Chatsworth
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To the editor: First the WGA, then SAG-AFTRA. Next up are workers at UPS.
Maybe it’s not the entertainment industry revolting, but workers in general starting to say enough with Wall Street’s focus on shareholder value to the exclusion of hardworking Americans.
Jesse Albert, Los Angeles
