Unions and strikes in cartoons
Comics and animated cartoons occasionally show their characters as members of unions and/or going on strike. While it’s sometimes just a one-off gag (particularly in comedies), it can also drive the story’s plot. Below are a few examples of unions and striking workers in cartoons.
Bloom County
Berkeley Breathed’s 1980s “Bloom County” comic strip featured unions in a few memorable storylines.
In the first storyline (running in December 1981), Santa Claus’ elves go on strike; the storyline ends with President Reagan firing the elves. This was a parody of the early 1980s air traffic controllers’ strike (and Reagan’s anti-labor tactics).
The second, longer storyline (running from October to November 1987) sees Opus and the rest of the strip’s cast go on strike over their comic’s “working conditions” (read: newspapers’ shrinking print size of comics). The executive in charge of the strip promptly decides to replace the striking characters with scabs. Unfortunately for our heroes, they didn’t win this fight, and caved to the owners’ demands.
While the second strike storyline ran a year before the 1988 Hollywood writers’ strike, it did reference the 1987 NFL players’ strike, which saw the league hire replacement players.
DC Comics
The Justice League
“Justice League of America” (vol. 1) #28 (June 1964) sees the JLAers picket the United Nations to urge them to lift a temporary order against the use of their powers. Apparently they did so under the mental influence of the villain of the story, Headmaster Mind. I half-suspect the Comics Code might’ve frowned on the idea of superheroes actively choosing to protest against authority, despite such being within their rights?
Superman
That said, Superman himself would go on strike, in his alter-ego of Clark Kent. “Superman” (vol. 1) #271 (January 1974) sees Clark, along with his fellow WGBS-TV employees, going on strike as part of a citywide strike of television personnel. Morgan Edge, the owner of WGBS, is empathetic to the strikers’ demands, but tells them he can’t do anything until the other TV station owners in Metropolis agree to the protesting workers’ demands.
(For the unfamiliar: from 1971 through 1986, the “Daily Planet” was owned by Galaxy Broadcasting, with Galaxy’s headquarters and flagship station WGBS integrated into the Daily Planet building. Clark was reassigned to work as WGBS’ evening news anchor.)
The Daily Planet itself has experienced a few labor issues over the decades:
“Superman” (vol. 1) #79 (November 1952) sees a new owner buy the paper for the explicit purpose of shutting it down (and firing the entire staff).
A 1991 storyline sees a new editor fire some of the staff members to save money, leading them to protest outside the Planet building.
A 1998 storyline sees Lex Luthor buy the Planet, fold most of its assets under LexCorp’s media arm, and fire most of the staff, including Clark. (Lex even has the Planet’s famous globe removed from the building and dumped.) Fortunately, the purchase is short-lived, as Lex is forced to sell ownership of the Planet to Bruce Wayne (for $1), who restores everything to normal.
Finally, a 2012 storyline (from early in the New 52 reboot) sees Clark briefly quit the Planet to work as an investigative blogger. As a blogger, I still wonder how he made enough money to pay for Metropolis rents—squeezing coal into diamonds? Borrowing money from Bruce?
The Flintstones
A bird serving as a tape recorder in the 1966 theatrical film “The Man Called Flintstone” agrees to help Fred and Barney out of their jam. (It’s also a rare instance in the franchise of the characters conversing with their animal appliances.) The bird, however, grumbles about hoping their union doesn’t hear about this.
The 1987 TV movie “The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones” features a scene where it’s shown that the dinosaurs at Mr. Slate’s rock quarry are actually unionized… and also on strike.
Apparently, when the animal appliances in “The Flintstones” say “it’s a living,” they mean it?
On video
“The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones” and “The Man Called Flintstone” are available on DVD and digital video, as well as streaming on Boomerang.
Peanuts
A storyline running from February to March 1969 sees Linus’ teacher, Miss Othmar, join a teacher’s strike, which unfortunately doesn’t end well for her, as she gets fired. However, a few later strips show her having returned to teaching, without comment.
The Simpsons
“The Simpsons”’s fourth season episode “Last Exit to Springfield” sees the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant workers go on strike, with Homer serving as the union’s head. Homer agrees to this to keep the plant workers from losing their dental plan, and thus avoid paying for Lisa’s expensive braces. Mr. Burns deals with the strike poorly, ultimately giving in to the union’s demands.
If wondering, Homer’s union is the “International Brotherhood of Jazz Dancers, Pastry Chefs, and Nuclear Technicians.”
On video
The episode is available on the fourth season DVD set, as well as streaming on Disney+.
SpongeBob SquarePants
The second season episode “Squid on Strike” sees Squidward launch a strike against Mr. Krabs’ stingier-than-usual employee treatment. Squidward convinces SpongeBob to join him, which costs them their jobs. Eventually, Squidward and Mr. Krabs reach an agreement; however, SpongeBob (motivated by Squidward’s protest rhetoric) takes things too far, leaving Squidward out of luck for his demands.
Most of the series’ episodes, however, seem to show Mr. Krabs reluctant to fire Squidward for some reason, despite Squidward usually being a terrible worker (sleeping on the job, rude to the customers, etc.). Given where he’s stuck working, however, Squidward clearly feels “minimum wage, minimum work” applies, especially at a job he hates.
On video
“Squid on Strike” is available on the “SpongeBob” second season DVD set. It’s also streaming on Paramount+.
In real life
On a more serious note, American comic publishers are infamous for their mediocre-at-best treatment of their artists, writers, and so forth, no matter how famous or crucial they are (see: Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, etc.). Recently, a “#ComicsBrokeMe” hashtag was trending on (what’s left of) Twitter, with numerous creators citing examples of mistreatment and difficulties in working in the comics industry. It’s depressing to read these examples, some of which are for smaller publishers’ comics I’ve enjoyed (such as “Lumberjanes”).
The animation industry, meanwhile, has experienced its share of labor disputes. The most famous of these was the 1941 Disney animators strike.
Finally, in light of the 2023 Hollywood writers and actors strikes, here’s Wikipedia’s list of Hollywood strikes over the years.
Image by macroworlds from Pixabay