Host and trainers on NBC’s ‘The Biggest Loser’ auction themselves on EBay to help strikers

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In a show of solidarity with crew members on strike, the host and two trainers on the NBC show ‘The Biggest Loser’ are auctioning themselves off on EBay to raise money for strikers.

Alison Sweeney, host of the NBC reality show, is auctioning off lunch dates with herself, and trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper are auctioning workout sessions. The auctions will go on for the next three days.

The current bid for lunch with Sweeney is at $1,000. A session with Bob Harper was going for $1,050 on Tuesday afternoon. Each winner is on the hook for travel costs to Los Angeles.

About 50 of the show’s crew members walked out last week, which brought production to a halt. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees is striking against the popular NBC series after they failed to secure union representation and health and pension benefits, and has held rallies to protest the decision by producers of ‘The Biggest Loser’ to bring in replacement workers to resume production on the show.

Sweeney, who has a no-strike clause in her contract, has expressed support for the workers who walked out.

The striking workers got a further boost on Tuesday when the LA County Federation of Labor, which represents more than 800,000 workers in the county, threw its support behind the strike.

“We intend to mobilize our vast membership and our resources to help bring a fair settlement to this dispute with ‘The Biggest Loser,’” said Maria Elena Durazo, the leader of the LA County Federation of Labor. “The producers of this show want to make their own workers ‘the biggest losers’ and the labor movement in LA is not going to let that happen.’

NBC and the show’s producers, Reveille, 3Ball and 25/7 have declined to comment on the dispute.

-- Joe Flint