Dispatches From The Picket Lines: WGA East Looks To Live Long And Prosper With ‘Star Trek’-Themed Rally Outside Paramount Offices
09.09.2023 - 00:53
/ deadline.com
This is Day 130 of the WGA strike and Day 57 of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
There was fan convention energy on the picket line outside Paramount offices in Manhattan on Friday as more than 100 people marched in a Star Trek-themed rally put on by the Writers Guild of America East.
The first of two “United We Trek!” pickets in New York and Los Angeles drew a show runner and actors from spinoffs of the original Paramount-owned franchise, a Star Trek novelist, and a contingent of Trekkies marching in Starfleet garb.
On another hot morning in the late-summer heat sink of Times Square, picketers incorporated Star Trek catchphrases into chanted refrains such as “Live long and prosper/We want their offer” and “Paramount, let’s engage/We want a fair wage.”
One marcher carried a picket sign written in Klingon. Dressed in a blue jersey with black trim and a gold arrowhead Starfleet insignia, the marcher said the message translated to, “Paramount, we must teach you honor.”
Cast members Ethan Peck, Melissa Navia and Jesse James Keitel, from the Paramount+ streaming series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, were on hand, as were Star Trek: Discovery cast member Wilson Cruz and Strange New Worlds show runner Akiva Goldsman.
"All we're asking for honestly is for a pay raise that keeps up with inflation and the cost of living. I don't think that's demanding too much… We're going to be here as long as it takes" – Wilson Cruz of 'Star Trek: Discovery' at WGAE Trek picket #WritersStrike pic.twitter.com/R7Xx8iovYU
A handful of actors with no Trek on their resumes, including Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul, also turned up in Times Square for a picket coinciding with Global Star Trek Day, which commemorates the Sept. 8, 1966 premiere date of Star