Posts tagged WGA
CBS News Digital Staffers Say Fight for Contract Improvements Continue a Year After WGA Unionization
June 20, 2025 // The unionized journalist, editors and social media producers call on management to meet “in good faith” ahead of their current last scheduled bargaining date of June 24
How AI Is Impacting Labor Relations—and Why Employers Need to Pay Attention
October 25, 2024 // One key takeaway from the DOL guidelines is the importance of worker involvement. In unionized workplaces, rolling out AI without worker input is risky. Unions are already pushing back, trying to ensure that AI doesn’t replace jobs or erode working conditions. Employers should expect collective bargaining proposals that set clear parameters around AI usage, from performance monitoring to task automation. Industries like entertainment are leading the charge, with unions such as SAG-AFTRA and the WGA negotiating limits on AI-generated scripts and digital replicas. At ports, the International Longshoremen’s Association is resisting fully automated systems. These are clear signs that AI’s impact on labor is at the top of many unions’ minds.
Writer Earnings Fell $600 Million Due to Strike and Industry Contraction, WGA Says
July 30, 2024 // TV and film writer earnings fell $603 million last year, or about 32%, as the end of “Peak TV” coincided with a 148-day strike by the Writers of Guild of America. Writer earnings, reported for dues purposes, dropped to $1.29 billion in 2023. Adjusted for inflation, that is the lowest level since the writers strike in 2007-08.
Writers At iHeartPodcast Network Ratify First Contract More Than 2 Years After Unionizing With WGA
June 27, 2024 // There will be no strike after all for the writers at iHeart Podcast Network. The 100-member bargaining unit of the Writers Guild of America East has “overwhelmingly” ratified its first deal with the network, the union announced on Monday. The ratification comes after more than two years of negotiations and an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the management at iHeart.
IATSE to Resume Contract Talks With Studios on June 24
June 11, 2024 // IATSE, along with Teamsters and the Basic Crafts, are also seeking new funding models for the Motion Picture Industry Health and Pension Plan, which serves all of their members. As the plan is funded by studio and union contributions that are based on the number of active film/TV productions per year, the MPI is facing an estimated $670 million shortfall over the next three years due to contributions lost during last year’s strikes. Along with wages, Teamsters 399 is expected to push for minimum staffing requirements for drivers on Hollywood productions, as well as protections against automated vehicles being used.
California’s AB5 Law Threatens Film and TV Workers Who Use Loan Outs
May 28, 2024 // Loan-out corporations already pay W-2 wages to their owners. The California Employment Development Department's decision to not recognize loan-outs for payroll purposes means studios would have to pay these corporations directly. Due to the logistical challenges this presents, studios are likely to reject using loan-outs altogether. This could severely disrupt the entertainment industry and needs immediate resolution. And the other giant thing is, other states will not have this law. So why would Hollywood workers stay and have businesses in Southern California if they'd be paying more taxes to live in a more expensive place? Especially if work then moves out of state as well.
Liz Shuler Wants AI to Reinvigorate the Labor Movement
April 2, 2024 // Fast forward a few years, and the world has evolved. Shuler is now the president of the AFL-CIO, having moved into the top spot in the summer of 2021, following the death of the organization’s longtime leader, Richard Trumka. Thanks to artificial intelligence, anxiety about technology’s impact on job security has only increased — not only among kitchen workers, but also white-collar professionals who long saw themselves as immune from disruption: writers, lawyers, health care professionals, marketers, financial analysts.
IATSE & Teamsters Leaders Rally Members Of Crew Unions Before AMPTP Talks Begin; “If We Don’t Get What We Want, We Will Shut It Down”
March 5, 2024 // This year’s bargaining cycle marks the first time since 1988 that IATSE, Teamsters and the Hollywood Basic Crafts will jointly bargain health and pension benefits for their members under the shared Motion Picture Pension and Health Plan. IATSE will continue negotiations of their IATSE Hollywood Basic Agreement and the IATSE Area Standard Agreement contracts and local union specific issues. Teamsters and Hollywood Basic Crafts are expected to bargain with the AMPTP in early June for their local specific issues.
“They Should Fear Us”: Teamsters & IATSE Link Arms For March Contract Talks With Studios
February 2, 2024 // To put some numbers to those crew, the Matthew Loeb-run IATSE represents 170,000 technicians, artisans and craftspeople in North America. With 1.3 million members nationwide, the Teamsters have 6,500 members in Local 399. The other Hollywood Basic Crafts have a combined 1,500 members. So do the math: That’s 178,000 union members sitting at the table at the AMPTP’s Sherman Oaks offices. All things considered, in the first such united front by the unions in 25 years, maybe the studios should be a little scared.
Labor unions, with power and popularity rising, are still trailing in the biggest nationwide battle
January 29, 2024 // But according to the Gallup polling, only one in six Americans live in a household with a union member, and its polling, as well as polling by others, shows that nonunion workers remains divided, about fifty-fifty, on interest in joining a union — Gallup's 2022 polling showed the percentage of nonunion workers who were not interested in membership as high as 58%.