Posts tagged writers
Who’s on strike and who’s close? Labor unions are flexing
August 8, 2023 // Recent decades suggest there won’t be a strike at more than one at once. UAW (United Auto Workers) typically picks one “target” at which to focus negotiations and possibly strike and then demand that the other two unionized automakers agree to the same “pattern” deal. That one really has the chance to hurt the Democrats since the union is very upset about the auto industry plans to shift to EVs (electric vehicles). They see EVs as a jobs killer because of so many fewer parts – it takes about one-third fewer jobs to build an EV than an internal combustion engine (ICE) car. And many of the EV jobs are at battery plants being built nationwide right now, but which are joint ventures between the automakers and foreign battery companies, and thus not guaranteed to be unionized. Even if those battery plants end up with a union, it’s not clear the joint venture will agree to UAW-level wages. The one UAW-represented plant in Ohio pays roughly half of what workers are paid at an engine or transmission plant owned by one of the Big Three (US automakers) and represented by the UAW.
Universal hit with $250 fine for trimming trees striking writers and actors used for shade
July 26, 2023 // “In this case, StreetsLA determined the trees were not significantly damaged and will likely recover in 6-12 months,” Mejia continued. “Through our investigation, we’ve learned that StreetsLA can’t proactively protect our 700,000+ City trees and investigate abuse. The City has only 12 inspectors.” WGA and SAG–AFTRA workers were outraged when they returned to the picket line to find that the trees had been trimmed during their ongoing strike. An online post of the bare trees quickly went viral. A spokesperson for NBCUniversal admitted to The Post in a statement that the pruning “has created unintended challenges for demonstrators,” but added, “that was not our intention.” “In partnership with licensed arborists, we have pruned these trees annually at this time of year to ensure that the canopies are light ahead of the high wind season,” the studio said.
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.
Predawn Picket Lines Help Writers Disrupt Studio Productions
May 30, 2023 // But production shutdowns are affecting not only the studios. Crews and other workers — like drivers, set designers, caterers — lose paychecks. And if the shutdowns accumulate and more people are unable to work, some wonder whether the writers will begin to erode the current good will from other workers. Lindsay Dougherty is the lead organizer of Local 399, the Teamsters’ Los Angeles division, which represents more than 6,000 movie workers, from the truck drivers the writers are trying to turn away to casting directors, location managers and animal trainers. A second-generation Teamster, Ms. Dougherty is one of the union’s few female leaders. Her copious tattoos, including one of the former Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa, and her frequently profane speech have made her a bit of a celebrity to the writers during the strike. And she said the solidarity with the writers remained strong. “I think collectively, we’re all on the same page in that streaming has dramatically changed the industry,” Ms. Dougherty said in an interview. “And these tech companies that we’re bargaining with, during the last writers’ strike — Amazon, Apple, Netflix — they weren’t even part of the conversation.”
CNET Workers Unionize as ‘Automated Technology Threatens Our Jobs’
May 18, 2023 // “The digital media landscape is transforming rapidly,” reads a letter written to CNET management explaining the workers’ choice to organize. “In this time of instability, our diverse content teams need industry-standard job protections, fair compensation, editorial independence and a voice in the decision-making process, especially as automated technology threatens our jobs and reputations. A union will help us adapt to new business strategies while establishing high journalistic standards and practices.” The rapid development of AI models like ChatGPT-4 has recently caused lots of concern in writing industries. The ongoing film and TV writers’ strike has labeled AI as a serious point of contention between workers and management, and the union wants to “regulate use of material produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologies” in its contract to protect writers’ jobs. AI isn’t yet good enough to replace a team of writers, but it is cheaper.
Should Influencers Unionize?
May 5, 2023 // Speaker D: Although our reporting has found that union rates are at an all time low since records began, so the trend is not favorable for you. Speaker D: Public perception of unions is pretty high though, so people will be cheering them on if they do form one. Speaker B: I mean, that’s what’s funny is because one in four zoomers want to be influencers, they’re also one of the most progressive generations that have the most positive view of unions.
WGA Argues That Writer Pay Is ‘Falling Behind’ in Shift to Streaming
March 15, 2023 // The guild states that the percentage of writers earning minimum salaries has also increased from 33% to 49% since 2013. The report also notes that higher-paid writers are seeing their weekly pay decline as episode orders shrink and production schedules lengthen, because they are paid by the episode. Writers who make less than $400,000 a year on most types of shows are covered by “span protection,” which mandates that an episode fee cover no more than 2.4 weeks of work. The guild argues that the higher-paid writers should also enjoy that protection. The union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers exchanged proposals on Monday and are set to meet face-to-face next week. The current contract expires on May 1.
Biden’s regulatory machine wants to stifle the freedom of the American worker
October 31, 2022 // Frankly, workers are not helpless. They are perfectly capable of choosing their own lifestyles and can evaluate their labor choices along with the compensation and benefits each provides. We currently have an economy in which, for the entirety of 2022, the number of job openings has nearly outnumbered unemployed workers 2-1. If these “gigs” were so horrible, these people would seek other employment. Moreover, the Biden administration’s mandated reclassification would significantly increase the cost of doing business for both small businesses and large companies such as Uber, Doordash, and others that provide unique economic opportunities for gig workers. This heavy-handed regulatory approach will discourage entrepreneurial innovation and result in added costs that will be passed along to the consumer.
‘They Should Be Ashamed’: Understaffing at NYC’s Beloved Museum of Natural History Pushes Workers to Unionize
March 28, 2022 // The union campaign arrives during a wave of organizing at museums and other cultural institutions across New York City and the United States, such as the Guggenheim and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Pennsylvania Task Force Wants To Import California’s Catastrophic ‘ABC Test,’ Crush Independent Contractors
March 3, 2022 // However, since the PRO Act is currently stalled in the U.S. Senate—and may be impossible to pass after the 2022 mid-term elections—unions and their political allies are trying to put the ‘ABC Test’ into effect in the statehouses.