In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Disney CEO Bob Iger remarked upon the ongoing writers’ strike and looming actors’ strike, saying their expectations aren’t “realistic.”
“We’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we’re facing, the recovery from COVID which is ongoing, it’s not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption,” he told host David Faber. “I understand any labor organization’s desire to work on behalf of its members to get the most compensation and be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver. We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the directors guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we’d like to do the same thing with the actors. There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic.”
Tyler Ruggeri, a member of the Writers Guild and a strike captain, told L.A. Morning News he doesn’t think the writers are the ones being unreasonable.
“It's been clear from the very beginning that all of the WGAs asks equal about, I think 2% of any of these studios profits and eight of the CEOs together make more than what we're asking for over the course of three years,” he said. “So, I don't think we're the ones being unreasonable.”
Rugeri also said the WGA has the data that shows the companies are extremely profitable.
“I mean, all of these studios are part of, you know, gigantic monolithic corporations that are profitable and they're answering to Wall Street stockholders and I understand that is where they feel their loyalty, not to the people who make and create the content that allows them to generate money,” he said. “And frankly, if they weren't making money, why are companies like Apple getting into the streaming business? Why is Amazon spending half a billion dollars on a ‘Lord of the Rings ‘show? They wouldn't be spending so much money in this space but not spending it on writers if this wasn't a business that they wanted to be in.”
He said the real villain in this strike is the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
“The AMPTP could have made a fair deal at any point in this process and, you know, they're the ones who are dragging this process out,” he said. “We would gladly go back to work tomorrow. We've been out there for two-and-a-half months and if SAG joins us, we don't know how long that will go.
But you know, we are very much on the side of small businesses. We're helping them out as much as we can, and I would say that, you know, I think everyone recognizes that we are the ones who are fighting for everybody in the industry, for our careers to be sustainable.”
The Writers Guild has been on strike since early May. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing the actors, had their contract expire at midnight on Thursday after failing to reach a deal with AMPTP. The union's National Board are expected to vote on the strike.
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