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Star Trek Day strikes draw Takei, Burton, Billingsley, and more Trek talent

By Mike Poteet

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 08: (L-R) Jonathan Del Arco, George Takei, John Billingsley, LeVar Burton and Natalia Castellanos join the United We Trek picket line outside Paramount Studios on September 08, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Members of SAG-AFTRA and WGA (Writers Guild of America) have both walked out in their first joint strike against the studios since 1960. The strike has shut down a majority of Hollywood productions with writers in the fourth month of their strike against the Hollywood studios. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 08: (L-R) Jonathan Del Arco, George Takei, John Billingsley, LeVar Burton and Natalia Castellanos join the United We Trek picket line outside Paramount Studios on September 08, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Members of SAG-AFTRA and WGA (Writers Guild of America) have both walked out in their first joint strike against the studios since 1960. The strike has shut down a majority of Hollywood productions with writers in the fourth month of their strike against the Hollywood studios. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images) /
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Star Trek Day strikes were the order of the day on both coasts.

Last Friday, September 8, wasn’t only Star Trek Day 2023 and the 57th anniversary of the franchise. It was also Day 130 of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike and Day 57 (serendipitously) of the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike.

As you no doubt know, the writers and performers essential to creating and producing content for studios, networks, and streaming services are calling for contracts reflecting the realities of today’s entertainment industry. “SAG-AFTRA and the WGA are striking over a variety of issues—some separate, some shared—but both groups are demanding changes in compensation and protection against the encroachment of AI on their crafts,” explains Business Insider.

Paramount/CBS is one of the media companies affected by the strike. It’s also home to the Star Trek franchise. On Friday, September 8, a number of Star Trek talents—past and present, from in front of and behind the camera—along with Star Trek fans participated in Star Trek Day strikes on the picket lines.

Galaxy of Trek talent beams to the picket lines for Star Trek Day strikes

Striking writers, actors, and supporters staged two “United We Trek!” pickets, one on each coast (Los Angeles and New York).

According to Deadline, the Star Trek day strikes “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.”

Organizer and WGA East member Dawn Ennis said the idea originated with actor and SAG-AFTRA member Jonathan Del Arco, whom Star Trek fans will remember as Hugh (in episodes of The Next Generation and season one of Picard).

In NYC, actors Ethan Peck (Spock), Melissa Navia (Erica Ortegas), and Jesse James Keitel (Dr. Aspen in “The Serene Squall”), along with showrunner Akiva Goldsman, came from Strange New Worlds. Wilson Cruz (Hugh Culber) was there, too, from Discovery.

In Los Angeles, some familiar Trek personnel on the picket lines were Jimmi Simpson (who voiced Drednok on the late, lamented Prodigy) at Warner Bros.; and, outside Paramount Studios, Del Arco; Todd Stashwick (Liam Shaw), Michelle Hurd (Raffi), and Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) from Picard); John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox) and Dominic Keating (Malcom Reed) from Enterprise; Nana Visitor (Kira) from Deep Space Nine; Robert Picardo (the EMH) from Voyager; writer-director Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II, Star Trek IV, Star Trek VI); and Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge) and—oh, my!—George Takei (Hikaru Sulu).

Takei told National Public Radio:

"We’re here to ensure that the young actors coming up, building their careers, will have the incentive to keep on keeping on, rather than giving up and opening up a restaurant or something. We want them to be able to survive on their art of acting. We’re here in solidarity to support their careers so that they can enjoy the career that LeVar [Burton] and I have enjoyed."

For his part, Burton told Fox 11 News in Los Angeles:

"This contract negotiation sets the terms and tone going forward in areas that are just critical to the health and life of these professions, and so we are in it to win it."

Billingsley, credited as an organizer of the September 8 west coast event, told Fox 11:

". . . [T]his could be a very long strike, and our will and our commitment to not walking away is contingent upon the ways in which we feed and support each other’s enthusiasm."

Without the tremendous talent and hard work of the actors and writers who are striking, we wouldn’t have Trek or any other film or television content to enjoy.

If you’d like to find out how you can support the strikes, visit the websites of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.

As a certain Vulcan scientist of our acquaintance might say, supporting these creative individuals’ demands for fair and equitable working conditions and compensation is the only logical thing to do.

Next. For the love of all things Star Trek: the WGA strike is a just cause. dark

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