#scabbing

Peripherally.

The automation itself is more part of the general category of management strategies to restructure workflow and production methods in order to reduce the need for, and thus the power of, labor. This dates back to the origins of Taylorism itself in the 1890s as an effort to “steal the brains from underneath the cap of labor” and through to the emergence of Human Relations and Industrial Psychology in the early 20th century as a means to better control workers. So I think you could see in as essentially equivalent to classic speed-up and stretch-out efforts to maintain production at as low a cost as possible during a strike, and thus break the union.

In an Instagram post published this weekend, Barrymore announced that her daytime talk show would return soon, in spite of the ongoing WGA strike. She also appeared to be somewhat confused about how strikes work and what is and is not helpful to do during one.

She wrote:

I made a choice to walk away from the MTV, film and television awards because I was the host and it had a direct conflict with what the strike was dealing with which was studios, streamers, film, and television. It was also in the first week of the strike and so I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers.

Well, yes. That was, in fact, the appropriate thing to do, but not just because it was the “first week of the strike.” That is not how strikes work. You don’t just do a gesture of support at the very beginning, call it a day and then go about your business, crisscrossing whatever picket lines you want.

And to be clear, our talk show actually wrapped on April 20th so we never had to shut down the show. However, I am also making the choice to come back for the first time in this strike for our show, that may have my name on it but this is bigger than just me.

Yes, it is, which is why she should support the strike and not be a big ol’ scab. She’s clearly suggesting that the reason she is doing this is for the crew members on the show, but those crew members are union workers themselves. They belong to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), which only narrowly averted its own strike recently. It doesn’t help them to cross the picket line, because weakening strikes in this way affects their ability to successfully negotiate their own contracts going forward.

I own this choice.

Just because you say you “own” something doesn’t mean you’re doing the right thing.

We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind.

Let's not mince words, it's 100% scabbing. It's not just crossing a picket line as a customer, it's crossing a picket line in order to work as non-union temporary labor, with the intent to crush the strike.

I don't agree that it's depicted as benevolent behavior - the whole gag of the middle portion of the episode is that the scabs are terrible fucking teachers. Frink is completely wasted in preschool and doesn't let the kids play with toys, Jasper is a physically abusive idiot who gets his beard stuck in a pencil sharpener, and Moe and the like are total pushovers when it comes to Bart's pranks. The only one who can manage a classroom at all is Marge, and even then she's incredibly embarrassing and unprofessional with Bart. (Notable difference compared to how she does in "Whacking Day.")