Posts tagged Hollywood writers’ strike
Could AI be used to replace striking workers?
November 19, 2024 // Some of the striking workers handle software and data analysis. It wasn’t clear if, without them, the paper’s website would be able to handle what was an expected influx of election-related traffic. Aravind Srinivas, CEO of AI company Perplexity, responded on X to Sulzberger’s statements, saying that his company was “on standby to help ensure your essential coverage is available to all through the election.” The tech workers’ strike ended after a week (though without a contract resolution), and there were no reported website outages. But the offer from Srinivas struck many as a way to undercut the union’s power and compromise workers’ ability to fight for better labor conditions. Replies to his comment called him a “scab” (a term for someone who crosses a picket line and replaces striking workers).
Unions push to represent more workers, but organized labor’s share of jobs is declining
October 24, 2023 // For all the sound and fury on the labor front, its net effect is unknown. Unions’ overall share of the workforce was 10.1% in 2022 and declining, about half the rate of 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That percentage is swelled by union predominance in government work. In the private sector, the share of union jobs was 6% in 2022. The number of union members overall has grown but not as fast as jobs in the rest of the economy. “It takes a lot of new members to raise the union density,” said Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
With strike talk prevalent as UAW negotiates, labor expert weighs in
August 8, 2023 // “The biggest tool that management has in an economic strike is it can replace these workers permanently, and so the workers may never get their jobs back even if they want them back. The strike wasn’t per se illegal, but that doesn’t mean they have a permanent right to their job back if the strike ends,” Masters said. Not all workers face the same risk of replacement, however. It’s impractical to contemplate permanent replacement workers at companies like UPS, where Teamsters members are currently voting on a tentative agreement, because of the scale of that operation and the pressure to settle a contract because of the potential loss of business, Masters said. In the case of the auto industry, Detroit Three automakers can do some stockpiling of vehicles but would likely have limited capacity to prepare that way for an extended strike and would risk losing too much business to competitors as well should a dispute drag on too long. Those same factors might not favor Hollywood actors or writers, who are currently engaged in their own high-profile strikes, Masters said, noting that some of the companies involved in those sectors might be more motivated to try to break the unions. “Not all workers are equal in terms of their replaceability. I think that’s the touchstone,” he said, noting the 1981 strike by air controllers that ended in a mass firing by then-President Ronald Reagan as an example of what can go wrong for workers in a strike.
Hollywood studios racing to avoid actors’ strike at midnight
July 12, 2023 //
SAG-AFTRA and Producers Agree to Two-Week Contract Extension for Continued Negotiations
July 5, 2023 // “While it seems like a lot of SAG members want to join the WGA, at the end of the day, most want to continue to work,” Theresa Stevenson, an arbitrator in Michigan who has helped settled union disputes and strikes in the past, told the Globe. “While this does affect A-list stars, it also affects so many more smaller actors and bit parts and commercial work and so many others. The majority with the SAG card simply can’t afford a strike and just want to work to live or, in some cases, have supplementary income.” “SAG knows this, and that’s why negotiations are continuing. Most members really do just want a deal and don’t want to dig in for a strike lasting months like the WGA. They go on strike, then LA and other big acting towns are going to see a flood of new applicants going on the job market for temp or part-time work, and that means economic disruption, especially when, after the theoretical strike is over, they all pull out. We see this happen in many entertainment and non-entertainment related strikes, and LA and California really doesn’t need more economic uncertainty right now.”
Hollywood’s actors may join its writers on strike. Here’s why
July 3, 2023 // The contract between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists and the studios, streaming services and production companies that employ them had been set to expire Friday night at midnight Pacific time. But hours before that the two sides said they had agreed to extend the current contract, and talks on the next one, through July 12. Unionized actors have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their leaders to call a strike if no deal is reached. Talks also went past the deadline in 2014 and 2017, and agreements resulted both times. Reports have said the talks have been productive. But some actors have expressed worry that their leaders may not be pushing hard enough. More than 1,000 of them, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Bob Odenkirk, have added their names to a letter to negotiators saying they are willing to strike, and are concerned they are “ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.” The letter says "this is not a moment to meet in the middle.” The guild, led by president and former “Nanny” star Fran Drescher, represents over 160,000 screen actors, stunt performers, broadcast journalists, announcers, and hosts, but a strike would involve only actors working on television shows and films.
Writers Strike Collateral Damage: Janitor Layoffs at Studios Spur Demonstration
June 16, 2023 // Hundreds of janitors and supporters marched from the Sony lot to Amazon Studios on Thursday to support striking Hollywood writers and protest alleged layoffs at major entertainment companies during the ongoing work stoppage. According to the SEIU United Service Workers West union, which organized the demonstration with the Writers Guild of America, about 50 janitors have been laid off since the work stoppage began May 2, while others have seen their hours cut. The cuts have occurred across all major studios, according to the union, though it name-checks Paramount and Radford Studio Center in particular. (The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Radford Studio Center and Paramount for comment.)
Hollywood directors reach labor pact, writers remain on strike
June 5, 2023 //
Predawn Picket Lines Help Writers Disrupt Studio Productions
May 30, 2023 // But production shutdowns are affecting not only the studios. Crews and other workers — like drivers, set designers, caterers — lose paychecks. And if the shutdowns accumulate and more people are unable to work, some wonder whether the writers will begin to erode the current good will from other workers. Lindsay Dougherty is the lead organizer of Local 399, the Teamsters’ Los Angeles division, which represents more than 6,000 movie workers, from the truck drivers the writers are trying to turn away to casting directors, location managers and animal trainers. A second-generation Teamster, Ms. Dougherty is one of the union’s few female leaders. Her copious tattoos, including one of the former Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa, and her frequently profane speech have made her a bit of a celebrity to the writers during the strike. And she said the solidarity with the writers remained strong. “I think collectively, we’re all on the same page in that streaming has dramatically changed the industry,” Ms. Dougherty said in an interview. “And these tech companies that we’re bargaining with, during the last writers’ strike — Amazon, Apple, Netflix — they weren’t even part of the conversation.”