“Your Solidarity Ignited Workers Around The World,” Guild Boss Fran Drescher Tells SAG Awards After Strikes & “Hot Labor Summer”

deadline.com:

Three months after SAG-AFTRA ended its long and bitter strike against the studios, guild president Fran Drescher took a glamourous and humorous victory lap in front of some of her most notable members Saturday at the SAG Awards.

Thanking IATSE, “Teamsters and basic crafts” at the top of her onstage remarks during the ceremony, Drescher also laid down a marker for what could be more labor unrest to come. “You took the heroes journey and stood at the front lines, strike captains led the march on the picket lines and we all showed up to the rallies because you understood what our massive contribution means to this marvelous industry,” Drescher told the nominees and guests at the Shrine Auditorium. “This was a seminal moment in our union’s history that has set the trajectory for many generations to come.” In the first SAG Awards since the strikes that made Drescher a megastar in a town of stars, tonight’s remarks had all the expectations of an election-night speech, with Drescher striding onstage to huge applause with hands raised like a winning candidate.

A tone and reality that has a certain irony being that Drescher was overwhelming reelected as president last September as a unity candidate in the middle of the strike. RELATED: ‘Devil Wears Prada’ Reunion At SAG Awards: Meryl Streep Defends “I Don’t Think I’m Anything Like Miranda Priestly!” Giving a shout-out to her partner in negotiations as well as one of her greatest nemeses in the guild’s desire for streaming bonuses, AI protections and more, Drescher thanked both SAG-AFTRA Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and the SAG Awards’ new-ish home Netflix.