Max Parrot at LaborPress reports from New York City that at first glance, it appeared like a crew of about a half dozen picketing Writers outside a Chelsea warehouse had single-handedly shut down a day of production on “Billions,” the prestige Showtime drama, for the third time during the Writers Guild of America (WGA) TV Writers Strike. 

In reality, the skeleton crew of Writers wasn’t acting alone.

The Picketers’ appearance had triggered a domino effect of solidarity from other Television Worker Unions that ended up stopping the show’s production that day.

Production shutdowns have become a regular feature of the Writers’ Strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the trade group representing producers, major studios and streaming services.

Working in concert with International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Members and Teamster Truck Drivers, Members of the Writers Guild have either shut down or halted at least a dozen productions as part of the ongoing Strike the Union is waging in New York, according to the WGA.

Other affected shows include FX’s “American Horror Story,” Apple’s “Severance” and “The Penguin,” HBO Max’s new Batman show, among others.

In New York and Hollywood, the Writers Guild has found a loyal ally in IATSE, which has in many cases worked as the muscle on set to enforce the Writers’ Strike and quite literally seize production - a move that comes with financial stakes for IATSE Crew Members.

Each day that IATSE Members sit out a production, they are not getting paid.

“It’s a really cool, incredible thing that we know any Crew Member that chooses not to cross is giving up their day’s pay,” said L.E. Correia, a Strike Captain at the “Billions” set. “They could cross our picket line and so the fact that they’re choosing not to is a really powerful thing.  And I think it’s freaking the studios out.”

Though IATSE represents Sound Technicians, Carpenters, Makeup Artists, Set Decorators, Costume Designers and other behind the scenes Workers, its Members are very familiar with the plight of the Writers.

A year and half ago, the Union authorized its own Strike during contract negotiations with AMPTP, and just narrowly came to an agreement to avoid their first Strike in the Union’s 130-year history.

“Labor has to stick together.  Workers have to stick together,” IATSE President Matthew Loeb recently told Variety about the Writers’ Strike.

To Directly Access This Labor News Report, Go To: Harnessing cross-union solidarity, Writers Guild of America shuts down a dozen TV productions in NYC – LaborPress