Posts tagged Writers Guild of America
No, Reality TV Isn’t Thriving During Industry Strikes
August 4, 2023 // The dual strikes are also raising more awareness about working conditions across the industry, in recent weeks prompting people like The Real Housewives of New York’s Bethenny Frankel and Selling Sunset’s Mary Bonnet to speak in support of creating a union for reality TV performers. One anonymous producer tells The Hollywood Reporter that several producers have spoken out in support of unionizing as well, but because there is currently a lull in work opportunities, most producers are currently more focused on finding jobs and getting a paycheck than organizing for better working conditions.
Actors and writers on strike rally in Philadelphia and Chicago as union action spreads
July 24, 2023 // While Los Angeles and New York are the epicenters of strike actions, there are dozens of mid-sized and small locals across the country representing performers and writers. “We have the same issues,” said Nikki Izanec, president of the Philadelphia SAG-AFTRA local, on her way to Thursday’s rally. “Lots of people pay attention to L.A. and New York, but our issues are the same as theirs.”
Actors and writers unions are fighting technological change. Expect change to win.
July 24, 2023 // Other issues relating to technology involve establishing standards for use of AI, which holds out the possibility that Hollywood may someday do away with actors altogether. The actors and writers can negotiate for better pay and more residuals (that’s likely what ultimately happens here) but the automation and efficiency being promoted by streamlining, digital, and AI are here for good. Show business was long assumed to be resistant to the type of automation that cost factory worker jobs. Machines cannot do what actors and writers can do. The unions are realizing that may no longer be the case.
Hollywood studios racing to avoid actors’ strike at midnight
July 12, 2023 //
Hollywood’s actors may join its writers on strike. Here’s why
July 3, 2023 // The contract between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists and the studios, streaming services and production companies that employ them had been set to expire Friday night at midnight Pacific time. But hours before that the two sides said they had agreed to extend the current contract, and talks on the next one, through July 12. Unionized actors have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their leaders to call a strike if no deal is reached. Talks also went past the deadline in 2014 and 2017, and agreements resulted both times. Reports have said the talks have been productive. But some actors have expressed worry that their leaders may not be pushing hard enough. More than 1,000 of them, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Bob Odenkirk, have added their names to a letter to negotiators saying they are willing to strike, and are concerned they are “ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.” The letter says "this is not a moment to meet in the middle.” The guild, led by president and former “Nanny” star Fran Drescher, represents over 160,000 screen actors, stunt performers, broadcast journalists, announcers, and hosts, but a strike would involve only actors working on television shows and films.
“They’re Scared”: 5,000-Plus Demonstrators Rally in L.A. to Support Writers Strike, Pressure Studios
June 23, 2023 // The event ended with some sharp words from Dougherty, the Teamsters Local 399 leader whose profile has skyrocketed during the strike due to her unwavering support of the writers and the fact that many of her members have refused to cross their picket lines. “The studios and the tech companies wanted to push you guys down and try and break you. But guess what? We’re not gonna let that happen. None of us. No fucking way.” Pointing to the La Brea Tar Pits museum, she called the setting for the rally “fitting,” as it showcases some extinct species and, “I think what we need to do with the AMPTP is make them fucking extinct.”
Student Activists Are Turning Their Attention to the Labor Movement
June 22, 2023 // Last year, the Young Democratic Socialists of America’s Red Hot Summer program trained hundreds of young people to organize their workplaces and helped launch union drives representing thousands. This year’s program hopes to be even bigger, writes YDSA’s cochair. Student workers across the country are engaged in an unprecedented wave of labor organization. Spurred on by the support of organizations like the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), of which I am cochair, undergraduate student workers have launched union drives on nearly thirty public and private campuses in the United States. These workers are fighting for increased pay, improvements to scheduling and hours, sick pay, and better health care. They are also fighting for issues that go beyond bread and butter, like removing Israeli products from dining halls.
Writers Strike Collateral Damage: Janitor Layoffs at Studios Spur Demonstration
June 16, 2023 // Hundreds of janitors and supporters marched from the Sony lot to Amazon Studios on Thursday to support striking Hollywood writers and protest alleged layoffs at major entertainment companies during the ongoing work stoppage. According to the SEIU United Service Workers West union, which organized the demonstration with the Writers Guild of America, about 50 janitors have been laid off since the work stoppage began May 2, while others have seen their hours cut. The cuts have occurred across all major studios, according to the union, though it name-checks Paramount and Radford Studio Center in particular. (The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Radford Studio Center and Paramount for comment.)
Hollywood’s hot strike summer
June 13, 2023 // SAG-AFTRA members overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike of its own should it not reach a deal by the end of the month. "We are collaborating together more than we ever had in the past," Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director for SAG-AFTRA, tells Axios. "There are a lot of issues we have in common — and even on issues where we don't — we want to support each other." G/O Media, Ziff Davis, Wirecutter, the Miami Herald, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Palm Springs Desert Sun, the Washington Post, NBC News and others have engaged in strikes or walkouts. Unions at the New Yorker, Vox Media and Wired threatened strikes but ultimately resolved their disputes with management.
Local labor unions show their solidarity during writers strike
June 12, 2023 // Local labor unions, in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America, gathered in front of the production studio that's under construction at the corner of Niagara and West Ferry. Organizers say there are no stories to tell without writers. "The potential has always been here, and now with the realization of places like this, and the idea that local crews are available and things of that nature, millions upon millions of dollars can come into the area," Writers Guild screenwriter Jeff Wilbur told 2 On Your Side.