Could something like the Writers Guild strike happen in Las Vegas?

The Writers Guild of America strike is gaining steam and support, especially after this morning’s showing of solidarity by so-called "show runners"–the writer-producers behind such addictive hit TV shows as "Lost" and "The Office." The Los Angeles Times reports that "100 or so writer-producers of some of TV’s highest-rated programs ratcheted up the pressure on the studios and producers."

This is a sharp change from the last major WGA strike in 1988, when show runners continued to work, causing a rift with the striking writers and appearing as nothing more than studio lackeys. However, with the writer-producers joining the WGA picket line, Hollywood’s production machine is grinding to a halt even faster than initially predicted, effects of which will become painfully obvious to regular TV viewers by as early as next week (daily shows such as "The Tonight Show" and Bill Maher’s program already have gone into reruns).

Unlike Las Vegas, Los Angeles–despite current appearances–is not a one-industry town. However, what happens in L.A. affects an industry nationwide, and viewers globally. Were such a strike to happen in Sin City, where effectively all casinos were forced to shut down, the exact inverse effect would be felt. Sure, a number of American’s vacation plans might change, but the result would ape that overused Vegas slogan, "What happens here, stays here."

And what would "happen" here would be the total shut-down of life as we know it in Las Vegas. Think about it: How many tangential industries seemingly unrelated to gaming and hospitality would be negatively affected by such a city-wide strike? For one, the media and nightlife production company for which I work would be immediately impacted: If the casinos shut down, their nightclub revenue evaporates, our advertisers pull ads, our magazines can’t pay for themselves. Our nightlife photography website will have no new photos to add since the clubs in the casinos are closed; and all the club advertisers on that site likewise disappear. Our nightclub VIP service stops business, immediately.

It would go beyond that–without the hundreds of thousands of casino employees working, local retail takes a dive. Without the tourists, even the high-end retail on the Strip suffers. The impact would be immeasurable.

According to the International Herald Tribune, the last time the Las Vegas Culinary Union–which represents about 60,000 casino, hospitality, hospital and airport employees in Vegas–organized a citywide strike was in 1984, which lasted for 67 days. There currently exists no union for casino workers such as dealers (though that could change, according to this Las Vegas Sun article), one day there could be, and one day the joining of forces could cause tremendous havoc in Sin City.

For now, we’re safe–the last potential Culinary strike, prompted a few months ago, mainly because of Downtown casinos, was averted by successful talks at the negotiating table. But as Hollywood has proven, things can change at the drop of a hat.

This entry was posted by on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 at 9:58 am. It is filed under Film, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

6 Responses to “Could something like the Writers Guild strike happen in Las Vegas?”

  1. Walsh, Esq. says:
    November 8th, 2007 at 3:46 pm

    Charming, but don’t you think that you are perhaps running with the ever-so alluring and slightly misleading “Chicken Little” syndrome a tad bit? The Writer’s Guild is, after all, a union.

    And not everyone in the aforementioned industries is associated with a union. Being that union membership has declined drastically in the past decade and continues to do so, and with the “right to work” statutes as state law, there will always be someone willing to work for lower pay.

    I do believe you are going into overdrive on this one, however, the IHT citation was enough to have me forget the melodramatic, hyperbolic scenario and admire your choice of sources.

  2. I was just kinda have some fun with speculation. But in the case of the WGA, there is no such thing as “there will always be someone willing to work for lower pay.” As a number of current and former WGA members pointed out to me after I posted something about the strike on my other blog (http://pjperez.livejournal.com/183127.html), pretty much, if you write for TV or movies, you’re WGA, and you’re striking. There are no “reservists.” If that were an option, the next season of “Heroes” would be written by yours truly. 😉

    On the flipside, yeah, in Vegas, we’d find cheaper labor in about a week. But don’t ruin my apocalyptic fantasies. Hey, at least I didn’t even mention the fact that because of Republican dolts such as Jim Gibbons, we’d lose all our tax revenue, as well, since they can’t seem to vote for taxation diversification in Nevada.

  3. Walsh, Esq. says:
    November 8th, 2007 at 4:29 pm

    Taxation diversification? Are you kidding me? Yah, that’s really going to bode well with local Nevadans, and with Bernanke’s predictions on the horizon http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7085398.stm you can bet that many will be lining up to cast their ballots for said taxation diversification. Don’t be so quick to point the AK-47 at Republicans. Take Raggio, for instance http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2007/nov/04/566665065.html?anti-tax,%20gibbons

    Not ALL Republicans are dolts, and, if you dig a little bit deeper, you may find that liberals are just as disappointing. Diversification of taxes is not the issue, rather one should investigate allotment of revenue funds. Although, I am extremely impressed by your knowledge of current affairs; I had you pegged for an A & E junkie. Since when did you start caring about the news?

  4. Card-carrying KNPR member, baby!

    I actually hate A&E stuff usually. Too much useless fluff out there.

    However, potential recession notwithstanding, I’m tired of whiny Nevadans who want services and won’t pay for them. I’m tired of businesses coming here to make money off our people but not putting back into the coffers to help provide for those people.

    And note, I wrote “Republican dolts such as Jim Gibbons.” I’m no party-line-toter. Most so-called “liberals” can suck it too. 😉

  5. Walsh, The Draconian says:
    November 9th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

    Alright, Pinko, if you keep this pro- taxation diversification rant up, I may just have to ship your ass off to one of Putin’s Siberian gulags with a Soviet era Pushkin pin! Observe: http://www.sadcom.com/cgi-bin/pins_search.pl

    -Might go well with your Mao watch. Just sayin’ ;P

  6. I have an awesome Chairman Mao lighter that plays the Chinese national anthem when you flip it open.