Posts tagged industry standards
Sesame Workshop Writers Authorize Potential Strike
April 18, 2024 // In the negotiations for a new contract, which began on Feb. 13, the union is seeking to institute “industry standard” annual raises and fixed residuals for re-use on streaming platforms, as well as a performance-based bonus when their work does well on streaming platforms. They are also looking to expand their contract to cover writing for animation and social media work, which would add members to the existing bargaining unit. They are further working on regulating the use of AI within the contract and establishing a paid parental leave fund. “No one wants to see a picket line on Sesame Street,” WGA East president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen said in a statement. “Millions of parents and families around the world are going to have a lot of questions. They might ask why the bosses at Sesame Workshop are ignoring their company’s own messages of kindness and fairness.”
Are Labor Unions Effective?
September 1, 2022 // Critics of labor unions maintain that union contracts are anti-employer and make it more difficult for a company to fire an unproductive employee. They also believe that unions can increase long-term costs for employers, which can decrease competitiveness. 8 For example, many claim that unions are responsible for the decline of the U.S. auto industry. Foreign automakers entered the U.S. auto market in the 1970s and hired non-union workers to build vehicles. 9 Due to the savings in labor costs, they could afford to sell their vehicles for less than U.S. manufacturers. This made it much harder for the unionized big three automakers to produce competitive cars at affordable prices, and they lost significant market share.