Posts tagged showrunners
TV Staff Minimum Remains Key Sticking Point, but Some in WGA Privately Grumble: ‘Nobody Asked for This’
August 17, 2023 // Another writer added: “All the showrunners that want a staff should be given a staff. I don’t think it’s important to force those few that don’t want a staff to have a staff.” The WGA proposed in the spring that TV shows should hire a minimum of six to 12 writers, depending on the number of episodes in a season. At its meeting on Tuesday, they agreed to reduce that ask by one writer — but would not forgo the basic structure. Several showrunners told Variety they did not want to be forced to hire writers who are not needed. In its worst form, they say, that would amount to “featherbedding,” an illegal labor practice in which employers are required by union rules to hire workers who do no work.
WGA Strike: Disney Using “Union-Busting Tactics,” Guild Says; Mouse House, HBO, CBS Demand Showrunners Work Despite Labor Action – Update
May 8, 2023 // “Under the National Labor Relations Act, the WGA is not permitted to interfere with an employer’s right to designate employees to perform certain supervisory functions,” the correspondence, with accompanying dos and dont’s, added. “If you fail to provide contracted services due to the strike, HBO/HBO Max will not be obliged to continue your salary,” it went on to say in the FAQ portion of the letter. And then, perhaps even more so that calling guild contract interpretations “misleading,” there was the kicker: “Further, if production is interrupted by the strike, even if you offer to continue to work, HBO/HBO Max will not be obliged to continue your salary, nor the salary of the cast and crew.” Disney shot out a similar letter with the same iron fist in a velvet-glove tone.