Posts tagged Hollywood
As L.A. City Hall staffers consider unionizing, competing unions seek to woo them
September 12, 2023 // The city work force, like the vast majority of the public sector work force across California, is heavily unionized. Staffers for elected officials, however, have long been at-will employees — they can be hired without dealing with civil service requirements, but also lack the protections that a civil service job confers. That’s the norm for staffers to elected officials across the country. But the City Hall effort is far from an outlier.
Game makers seek unions as digital entertainment booms
September 12, 2023 // Interest in union protection among video game workers has heightened as studios curtail remote work, meaning employees are being pressured to live near offices in cities that tend to be expensive, according to Fellmeth. The ongoing strike by film actors and writers has also been a factor, spotlighting the power of workers uniting. Writers walked off the job in May, followed by actors in July. Both unions are asking for better pay, and guarantees that AI will not steal their jobs and income, among other demands. The strikes have halted production on many studio films and television series.
Analysis: Workers have more bargaining power amid changing labor landscape | Tatiana Bailey
September 12, 2023 // And here’s the monkey wrench. Some of these worker asks are related to disruptive technological changes like artificial intelligence, better known as AI, and alternative energy. For example, Hollywood writers don’t want entertainment companies to use AI to write scripts. Auto workers are worried about their job security because of electric vehicles. Unionized workers, in particular, are trying to secure a bigger piece of the pie as it relates to corporate executive pay, but they are also trying to secure their place in a world that is likely shifting to fewer workers and more technology. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Drew Barrymore’s Talk Show Is Returning — Without Her Striking Writers
September 12, 2023 // She added that she was approaching the new season, which premieres Sept. 18, “with an astute humility” — despite the optics of resuming her show during two strikes, which have called attention to inequitable working conditions in film and television.
Op-ed: Workers Rights Won by Unions, From the 8-Hour Workday to Overtime Pay
September 11, 2023 // The overall proportion of unionized workers in the United States remains relatively low, with only one in every 10 workers in the country belonging to a union. But whether you're a union worker or not, you may benefit from policies for which unions have fought long and hard — and they continue to fight. Labor organizing has helped secure everyday benefits that many of us now take for granted. And these efforts have shown people what kind of protections they can hope to secure in the workplace.
As Hollywood strike drags on, Biden’s relationship with unions becomes complicated
September 6, 2023 // For example, in the 2020 election, labor unions contributed $27.5 million to Biden’s campaign while his opponent, former President Donald Trump, received less than $360,000, according to Open Secrets. The states with the largest concentration of union workers are hardline Democratic states, like Hawaii, New York, Washington, Oregon, New Jersey and California. In 2022, 10.1% of American wage and salary workers belonged to unions compared to 20.1%, in 1983, signifying a large drop in membership. But this hasn’t translated to a drop in popularity for unions, at least according to recent polls.
From Strikes to New Union Contracts, Labor Day’s Organizing Roots Are Especially Strong Across the Country This Year
September 5, 2023 // The first U.S. Labor Day celebration took place in New York City on Sept. 5, 1882. Some 10,000 workers marched in a parade organized by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor. A handful of cities and states began to adopt laws recognizing Labor Day in the years that followed, yet it took more than a decade before President Grover Cleveland signed a congressional act in 1894 establishing the first Monday of September as a legal holiday.
10 biggest labor strikes in U.S. history
September 4, 2023 //
‘It’s not as glamorous as you think’: Local actors weigh in on impact of SAG-AFTRA strike
September 1, 2023 // For the last month, the Jameses have been striking with SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, to which they’ve belonged since 1997. Without a resolution to the union’s ongoing labor dispute, Gilda and Chris’s usual lineup of acting work just doesn’t exist. Come this fall, Gilda and Chris plan to work a number of odd jobs, including at the polls during election season and at Spooky World, a Halloween-themed attraction park in Litchfield, N.H., where costumed actors try to scare patrons. Chris shuddered at the thought. The gig — which he calls “stage in your face” — pays $10 an hour and is “the toughest acting I’ve ever done.” It would be their third season there.
As Obscure as an Extra, She Has a Lead Role in Hollywood’s Labor Fight
August 30, 2023 // Wanted or not, the spotlight has found her. Many union members blame her for the negotiating logjam that has brought almost all movie and television production in Hollywood to a halt. Partly because of her woman-of-mystery persona and partly because she’s an easy target, Ms. Lombardini has become an avatar for the grievances of tens of thousands of striking workers. “Carol can go kick rocks,” Caroline Renard, a striking writer, said this month on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. With her public personality absent, actors and writers have invented one. In May, someone started a parody account on X that has portrayed Ms. Lombardini as a crass tyrant declaring, “I’m a goddess of chaos!” (Yes, she has seen it, an associate said. No, she is not amused.) Another group of screenwriters have mocked Ms. Lombardini online as a fuddy-duddy who hangs out at chain restaurants, the taunt being that no Hollywood person would be caught dead in one. (Her office is near a Cheesecake Factory in suburban Los Angeles.)