Posts tagged Hollywood
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.)
Labor unions are pushing hard for double-digit raises and better hours. Many are winning
August 28, 2023 // More than 320,000 workers have participated in at least 230 strikes so far this year, according to data from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. That’s already higher than the roughly 224,000 workers who participated in roughly 420 strikes in 2022, due in large part to tens of thousands of striking workers with the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Writers Guild of America. “Major” strikes involving 1,000 or more workers so far amount to just 16 such work stoppages this year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares to a recent high of 25 recorded major work stoppages in 2019 and 23 last year.
California proposes paying unemployment benefits to striking workers
August 24, 2023 // One of the main sponsors of the bill, state Sen. Anthony Portantino, said, “I think there’s more of a recognition that hardworking men and women need to have a seat at the table to discuss economic expansion.” He added, “It is embarrassing for California that we don’t have unemployment insurance for striking workers.” The deadline for California lawmakers to introduce new bills was in February, but state legislators can still rework unrelated bills, in a move called “gut-and-amend,” to circumvent the missed deadline and include the new language. The last-minute legislative push is backed by the California Labor Federation, which is led by former state Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez. When Gonzalez tried to pass a similar bill in 2019, it eventually passed both chambers but was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Federal worker complaints rise with union activity in Minnesota
August 22, 2023 // National Labor Relations Board complaints this year in Minnesota and nationally are already above full 2021 and 2022 levels. Organizers expect even more in 2024.
Lisa Vanderpump questions push to unionize reality TV stars ‘plucked from obscurity’
August 21, 2023 // "One of the great things about reality shows is that they've always been able to be produced for less money than scripted shows," Vanderpump said. "And I don't really understand how you can have a union for people that are normally plucked out of obscurity." Vanderpump has been a cast member and executive producer on "Vanderpump Rules" since 2013, when it debuted as a spinoff of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," which she starred in from 2010 to 2019. "You know, I'm very happy with what I've been paid over the years. I think the first season is always like an audition and then it's what you make of it, you know?" Vanderpump explained.
Terence Crawford Takes Aim at Boxing Corruption, Wants to Start Union
August 18, 2023 // “If all of the top fighters with a name and a brand behind them came together, we could make change,” he said. “We have different races, different ages, different countries — it’s everyone from all walks of life coming together. I think it can be done.” In January 2022, Crawford filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $10 million against his former promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, accusing him of racial bias against promoting Black fighters. “Boxing is one of the most corrupted sports there is and ever [has] been in the history of sports,” Crawford said in another interview with Boardroom. “We’ll take a $5 million guarantee not knowing there’s $30 million dollars that we missed,” he added. “Once I started asking [contract] questions and learning a bit here and there, it became a problem between me and my old promoter, and at that point in time, I knew it was time to go.”
From Detroit to Hollywood, New Union Leaders Take a Harder Line
August 18, 2023 // The full-throated demands can also backfire in economic terms. Yellow, a trucking company with 30,000 employees, declared bankruptcy several months after talks with the Teamsters broke down. The company’s chief executive said in a statement that the Teamsters’ intransigence drove Yellow out of business, though analysts note that the company showed signs of mismanagement for years. The risks may be even higher in industries under pressure to embrace a new business model. The major U.S. automakers have said that they need the ability to team up with nonunion battery manufacturers to secure additional capital and expertise. But Mr. Fain, the new U.A.W. president, has said that the failure to organize more battery workers was a major failure of his predecessors, and that battery workers must receive the same pay and working conditions that union workers enjoy at the Big Three. Many U.A.W. members say the tension between the automakers’ goals and the union’s indicates that a strike will be hard to avoid when their contract expires in mid-September. But they do not appear to be shrinking from that possibility.
When California’s public workers go on strike
August 11, 2023 // On Tuesday, thousands of city workers across Los Angeles, including staff at LAX and Van Nuys airport, City Hall, animal shelters, public swimming pools and other facilities, walked off the job for a 24-hour strike, reports the Los Angeles Times. There have been some efforts in the Legislature to expand strike rights for public workers. State Sen. Tom Umberg, a Democrat from Santa Ana, has proposed a constitutional amendment that would enshrine every worker’s right, including public sector employees, to join a union and negotiate with their employers “to protect their economic well-being and safety at work.” Another measure, authored by Democratic Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes of San Bernardino, would protect public employees from disciplinary action if they join a sympathy strike, refuse to cross a picket line or refuse cover work for striking co-workers.
Over 11,000 L.A. workers plan to strike, hoping to ‘shut down’ city
August 8, 2023 // Mayor Karen Bass (D) said Saturday that the city is committed to ensuring a fair contract for its workers. “City workers are vital to the function of services for millions of Angelenos every day and to our local economy. They deserve fair contracts and we have been bargaining in good faith with SEIU 721 since January,” Bass said. “The City will always be available to make progress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” Los Angeles International Airport and the Port of Los Angeles did not return requests for comment regarding the possible disruptions to their operations that the strike could cause.