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Picket Fences

By SusanUnPC on November 8, 2007 at 8:45 PM in Economy

BY OTHER LISA, whose blog is Paper Tiger. Other Lisa is a longtime friend who is an executive in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, and a gifted writer whose fine novel, set in China which Other Lisa visits often, is expected to be published shortly. (I’m privileged to have read her novel, and can’t wait to advertise it here.) Here are her deep reflections on how the writers’ strike reflects the most critical economic issues facing America:

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I’ve had to cross picket lines, and I’m not liking it much. The Writers Guild of America is on strike. There’s no threat or expectation that non-Guild members shouldn’t cross; it’s not that kind of picket line. Yet there is an odd resonance with labor movements past that I hadn’t expected. The picketers wear snappy red T-shirts with WGA logos; there are special “strike” editions that I wish I could buy. The signs are good too, especially the 30s style with a lightning bolt ending in a fountain pen and the word “Strike!” superimposed over it. Reminds me of the old RKO logo.

The writers ask for drivers to honk in support. All day long I hear the horns, and when I have to cross the street, I see who is responding: drivers in Prius and MINIs and even BMWs. Toyotas and Focus and all variety of beaters. Truckers in particular blast their air-horns. The writers cheer.

I’m on the writers’ side too, and I’ve honked when I’ve driven past. How could I not? The writers look like me. If my life had gone a different way, I could have easily been one of them.

Most of the people I work with support the writers as well. We all know what’s at stake. As one Guild spokesperson put it, this isn’t about the Rich versus the Richer, and there’s a reason that truckers are honking in support.

Hollywood creates a lot of wealth, and what’s focused on in the popular media are the extremes — the mega-salaries, the superstars, the cartoon excesses. What gets lost in such stereotypes is the reality for most people who work in the Industry. Hollywood creates a lot of decent-paying jobs that allow for reasonable middle-class to upper middle-class lifestyles. That’s the bulk of the industry.

I found the following numbers in yesterday’s Dead Tree edition of the Los Angeles Times and am thus far unable to find a link, but have a look:

Total paid in DVD/VHS residuals to WGA members in 2006: $56.6 million.

Severance package of Viacom’s outsted chief Tom Freston: $60 million

Average production cost (excluding marketing) of studio movie in ’06: $65.8 million

Compensation paid to CBS chief Leslie Moonves in 2006: $28.6 million.

Needless to say, it’s tough to take management’s pleas of poverty seriously when they pay a guy more than the annual total of all residuals paid to the WGA — for fucking up.

The writers’ strike is about being fairly compensated in a very lucrative industry. It is having some small ownership over the fruits of one’s labor.

I’ve watched with increasing dismay, anger and outright horror the economic trends in this country. No less an expert than Warren Buffet feels that there is fundamental unfairness in our current tax structure. And this fundamental unfairness goes well beyond taxes.

We live in an oligarchy masquerading as a democracy. It’s a rigged game, designed to funnel money out of the middle class (and upper middle class for that matter) and divert it instead to a handful of very wealthy people. Once you have that much wealth and power concentrated in so few people, it becomes very difficult for “ordinary” peoples’ interests to be represented in any meaningful way.

Marx’s notion of “wage slavery” seems all too descriptive these days.

I’ve never been a Marxist, and I believe in capitalism as an efficient mechanism to organize a society. But there’s another necessary component, and that is social justice. There are as well values that transcend the marketplace — abstract notions of community that are not always easily quantified. I’ve never understood why so many social conservatives are market fundamentalists when unfettered capitalism is so destructive to traditional values. There are communal interests that both consist of and transcend the aggregate of individual ones.

So, go Writers Guild of America! Strike a blow for decent wages and the ownership of one’s own labors! And let’s all hope the strike ends soon. Otherwise we are faced with a season of “reality” shows like Farmer Takes a Wife and Clash of the Choirs.

Really. No one wants to see that.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com Other Lisa

Wow, thanks for the fine intro, Susan, and thanks for having me here.

I should add that I hope my book will be published soon. I’m working with an agent but there’s no deal for representation and no guarantee of any.

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

Yeah, well. I’ve read a draft, and I know it will be published.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com Other Lisa

Okay, I like your version better than mine!

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

Slightly OT: Here’s one positive to come out of the writers’ strike — although FAN Antonin Scalia (who actually believes the SCRIPTS are REAL) will be verklempt!

NEW YORK — The writers strike has struck down the Fox thriller “24.”

“24″ is absent from the network’s revised, strike-affected schedule for midseason. In its announcement, Fox explained the “Day 7″ season for the series would be indefinitely postponed to ensure an uninterrupted run.

Like most series written by members of the Writers Guild of America, “24″ is falling prey to a shortfall of scripts. But the heavily sequential, real-time “24″ is dependent on a full-season run of 24 episodes. … Read all.

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

I just knew that Dave Barry, at his “24″ spoof blog, would have something to say about this news:

According to the Los Angeles Times, when the writers’ strike began only “eight or nine” of next season’s “24″ episodes were complete. Of course, that was also pretty much the situation last season, but they went ahead and broadcast 24 episodes anyway.
P J Evans

Now if they’d just pack up and go home! They’re still filming. (I live in the neighborhood of their ‘studio’. They’re a traffic hazard.)

Kathleen

Other Lisa great piece. I grew up standing with my parents on strike lines they were both in Unions (my father is a teamster) I am 55 and have never been in a Union but I am very clear that this is what created the middle class in this country.

It would be great if those on the top automatically shared the wealth because it is the right thing to do, but that is not what happens. We live during a time when CEO’s are making 300 times what the average worker is making. This is wrong. I support the writers strike and all efforts that support people making a fair piece of the action.

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

Wonderfully expressed, Kathleen. It is tragic that unions and union jobs are being decimated by this economy. When I first joined the workforce, it was possible to join a major corporation and, should one want, stay with that company for all of one’s career — there was that much job security, and that job security helped build the fantastic middle class. Now — what are the latest stats? — a college grad can expect to have 6-7 jobs before they’re 30 years old. Shocking.
http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

This is also an important strike because writers have far less job security than most people — they’re in an intensely creative, volatile profession and every job rises and falls on complex studio deals, budgets, ratings, etc. To maintain their profession, they need sufficient income between gigs, and their demands would simply help them remain more available as the kinds of writers the studios need to create top-notch creative works.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com Other Lisa

Big news today is that the showrunners, who are generally writers who handle the overall job of producing the show, are striking too. They are being threatened with all sorts of legal action by the networks and studios (one guy got a letter saying they would SUE HIM for the cost of his own show! That’s millions of dollars) but they are all hanging together.
ybnormal

True; people never hear about the every day workers.

My wife’s ex-husband works on and off driving trucks for the industry. He probably could get a permanent truck job somewhere else, but that’s his choice. Possibly, it might be because on the bright side, he gets to keep his membership in the Motion Picture TV health plan HMO, arguably one of the best; which is good for his son who lives with us, and is also on the plan.

A good job is if he get’s to drive maybe Pam Anderson’s Star Wagon, and follow up by cleaning the toilets.
Real glamorous, huh?
graywolf

People with Malibu beach houses and Lexus’ striking against people with BIG Malibu beach houses and Bentleys – all churning out the same garbage.

No loss…..yawn….

ybnormal

Is this an example of what your quality writing, as a strike-breaker?

otherlisa

Graywolf, honestly, that is an idiotic statement. The vast majority of the WGA do not make the kind of money that enables them to buy Malibu beachhouses.

But hey, if you want to believe that, go right ahead.

graywolf

You might have something there, but….

They’re still overpaid for the garbage they pass off as “writing.”

Besides, if you don’t like your job, this is (still) a free country, get another job.

ybnormal

Has it occurred to you that better job security would enable better writers to survive in a venue with notoriously spotty employment?

otherlisa

Er, I’m not a member of the WGA, and I don’t write for the film/TV industry. There is no way I would be crossing a picket line if I were in the WGA, and no way I would write scripts during a strike.

And where did I say I didn’t like my job?

I guess this is an example of the 28 percenters creating their own reality.

My own opinion about quality: I think most feature films pretty much suck. I think there is a surprising amount of good writing on television however — even on the networks.

http://www.food4humanity.org hoosierHoops

When you pay 20.00 for a DVD.. exactly 4 cents goes to the writer.
That’s the figures they were talking about on Bob&Tom this morning.
Cheap ass studios.

Chris Vosburg

Hoops writes: When you pay 20.00 for a DVD.. exactly 4 cents goes to the writer.
That’s the figures they were talking about on Bob&Tom this morning.
Cheap ass studios.

What amount, in your opinion, would be fair?

See, that’s the hard part. That’s what they are arguing about. In fact, the WGA pulled its request for an increase in home video residuals off the table– in favor of arguing for an increase in residuals for downloaded video and streaming video on the the net.

It’s really complicated, and I encourage all inclined to comment to visit the WGA and AMPTP websitess before doing so, to get a handle on this.

Sandy

…some people’s children….

Thanks for this, Susan, and Other Lisa. So interesting to hear…from the inside….what is happening with all this. Outrageous the CEO salaries!
http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

I couldn’t help poking fun, but this strike really is about fair wages for work performed. I couldn’t locate the LA Times story that Other Lisa mentioned, but here’s one about Viacom that includes information on the severance package (reported to be $62 million). Here’s a report about Les Moonves being paid a lousy $3.5 million this year.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com Other Lisa

Les got 28 million plus including options.

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

That bastard cancelled my favorite show on Showtime, “Huff,” a fascinating one-hour drama about a psychiatrist played by Hank Azaria, and a terrific cast including Blythe Danner as his mother. He watched the show, and said he didn’t get it. Then axed it. Yeah, well … idiots wouldn’t get it.

Even though I love a couple othe Showtime original series — “Weeds” (god, that’s so funny and well-done) and “Dexter” (deliciously sick drama) — I was on a budget kick and decided that Les Moonves wouldn’t get my money anymore.

http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

I don’t know who was responsible, but someone at Showtime cut Jeremiah, a wonderful post-apocalyptic science fiction show, and never even showed the last few episodes. You still can’t get the second season on DVD, several years later. If that was Les, too, he has a lot to answer for.

http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

Correct, I’m sure. I was just quoting the base salary, which was, incredibly, a big pay cut. That pay cut alone could have paid for at least ten professional employees.

http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

I couldn’t help poking fun, but this strike really is about fair wages for work performed. I’ll post links to a couple of LA Times stories that are related.
http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

[I think posting three links in such a short comment got my previous comment sent to bit heaven, so here's the second part as a separate comment. Sorry if this ends up as a duplicate.]

I couldn’t locate the LA Times story that Other Lisa mentioned, but here’s one about Viacom that includes information on the severance package (reported to be $62 million). Here’s a report about Les Moonves being paid a lousy $3.5 million this year.
http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

I couldn’t locate the LA Times story that Other Lisa mentioned, but here’s one about Viacom that includes information on the severance package (reported to be $62 million).
http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

Here’s a report about Les Moonves being paid a lousy $3.5 million this year. You have to wonder how he gets himself motivated to show up at the office for so little reward.
http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

SusanUnPC, if you’re able to look at stuff in spam filters, I’ve left several comments there that have links to stories related to this article. Go ahead and put the links in the article if you want, and toss the comments. They’re mostly repetitive.

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

CUJO: I found four posts from you that had somehow gotten in the spam filter + one of Kathleen’s. I’m going through all of the spam — it’s slow-going because there are 545 posts there. Lots of Greeks sending spam, even Socrates!

Please check to be sure that they got restored — they certainly should have.

(Moses tells me that our spam filter teaches itself, so this should not happen to any of your posts again.)

http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

Thanks, Susan, they’re all there now, including repeats.

lidia

I’ve never been a Marxist

it shows

Because it was Marx who explained WHY “social conservatives are market fundamentalists”. Because there is such thing as “class interest” and so called “social conservatives” are defending the capitalist class interest. Not mentioning that

“The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors”, and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment”. It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom — Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.”

And, to the topic

The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers
otherlisa

Hey, I do own the Marxist Encyclopedia. Guess I should read it more…but that whole “superstructure/substructure” thing ties my brain in knots.

But I’d say that most social conservatives aren’t actually members of the “capitalist class,” much as they might like to be. So they are actually working against their own class interests.

Which brings to mind the perhaps apohryphal story about Kruschev and Zhou Enlai. Supposedly Kruschev was getting on Zhou’s case about Zhou’s intellectual, Mandarin family background. Kruschev, on the other hand, came from good peasant stock.

“So we have both betrayed our class,” Zhou said.

I don’t know if that’s true but it’s a good story.

lidia

“But I’d say that most social conservatives aren’t actually members of the “capitalist class,” much as they might like to be”

If ONLY capitalists defended capitalist class interests, there would be no more capitalism

As the same Marx put it “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”

And, by the way, some people could choose what class’ interests to support (as Marx did), but still there are classes, class interests and people who deny it because the denile is good for their class interest

justsomeone

other lisa, Re: “show runners” striking & the threat of a suit (labor law is a strange beast) do note: secondary boycotts are illeagle, ergo your friend could possibly be held liable. Should the strike go on for any length of time don’t be suprised if the studios evoke the worker replacement act & bring in the desperate B team, some of whom may be very talented. For the record I’ve never crossed a picket line & I never will. I’m not a member of the NFL & I wouldn’t cross their line, or a musician’s line, garbage worker’s line, etc. no union ever goes on strike when there’s any other recourse. If this strike lasts more than 2-3 weeks the scabs will be all over the jobs & some wealthy weasels are probably already applying for hardship waivers. Anyone that knows the history of labor unions in this country, knows many good people laid down their lives for the 40hr work week, health & safety provisions, pension/benefits, etc & greedy yuppies have just about undone all of it. Clinton did a good job of snookin the unions… Oh, let’s also give credit to the National Right to Work Committe that spent a million bucks a day for over a decade to soften up the scene. I know way too much & I’m starting to bore myself. Don’t worry too much about a Guild strike, Hollywood likes it’s unions, they create order & keep the piss ants in line.

otherlisa

The networks/studios are threateing to hold showrunners to their contracts to produce the shows. But the showrunners are also members of the WGA. This was about them making a choice, and it says a lot for them as a group that they chose the WGA. They are hoping that since all of them have gone out that there will be some kind of amnesty at the end.

I agree with you about the “B” team, particularly as far as features are concerned. But a showrunner is a very specific and tough job, and it’s not something that an inexperienced person could manage. I’m sure there are some execs on the network side who think they could do it, but I expect that the showrunners will be very difficult to replace, and you just won’t see series scripted television produced until this is over.

Chris Vosburg

It’s worth pointing out here that the WGA members who are showrunners– that’s hyphenates like “Producer-Writer” for example, to those outside the industry– are nevertheless compelled by contract to do the job required of them outside of writing duties.

It’s kind of a tough call, you know?

The showrunners have been at the forefront in conciliation on this strike, for good reason, obviously, just as was the case in ’88 when they threatened to secede from the WGA and make up their own, uh, union.

Taters

Good piece, Other Lisa and thanks for posting this Susan.
Why do I get a feeling there might have been a writer’s strike when “Saved by the Bell” was created?
I recall being in SF when the hotel strike was happening. There was about twenty five of us in our group already checked into the hotel prior to the strike. There was no other place to stay so we stayed there. I sure didn’t like the feeling of having to stay at a hotel where many of the employees were on strike. I did speak with the strikers and apologized – they completely understood and were friendly. Anyway, I wish the writers well and I hope they achieve a successful conclusion.
Kathleen

Here is TRex over at Firedoglakes take on the strike. Lots of good stuff there
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/08/late-late-nite-fdl-rage-rage-agains
t-the-goddamn-machine/
Kathleen

Here is the link to FDL
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/08/late-late-nite-fdl-rage-rage-against-the-goddamn-machine/
Kathleen

Susan here is Selise(who is awesome at keeping up with the votes and hearings) take on the 53/40 vote on Judge Mukasey

selise says:
November 9th, 2007 at 4:03 am

just catching up on the mukasey vote last night. i couldn’t watch the kabuki of senators speaking out against his nomination, but not being willing to actually do anything to block it. what fuckery.

so, the mukasey nomination passed 53 to 40:

without the unanimous consent agreement it would have taken 60 votes to pass. which means that some dems voting no (or not voting) really wanted the nomination to pass but wanted to pretend otherwise. the rest of the dems, even those voting “no”, helped to draw the curtain over what happened by not objecting to the unanimous consent agreement – which would have forced senators to cast real votes.

as hugh said:

A straight up and down vote may also allow some Democrats who would vote for Mukasey in a pinch to cast a cosmetic vote against.

dems voting yes:

Bayh (D-IN)
Carper (D-DE)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Nelson (D-NE)
Schumer (D-NY)

dems not voting:

Biden (D-DE)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Obama (D-IL)

this morning i hate every single senator and i hate my party.

other than that, i’m sure it will be a great day.
Kathleen

George Carlin (one of my gurus) rips. Do yourself listen to the truth and have a belly laugh.

“you have no choice, you have owners”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18690.htm
Kathleen

Amy Goodman is incredibly consistent in her stance on human rights, justice and the truth.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18679.htm

A Vote for Mukasey Is a Vote for Torture

By Amy Goodman
Kathleen

In Amy Goodmans article the letter sent to Leahy and Spector from Larry Johnson, and the Plame Wilsons is mentioned

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18679.htm
Yogi-one

Other Lisa wrote:

We live in an oligarchy masquerading as a democracy.

and

I believe in capitalism as an efficient mechanism to organize a society. But there’s another necessary component, and that is social justice

That brings up an issue I have thought a lot about: which system is the right on on which to organize society? It seems different nations/cultures have tried different ones (capitalism, socialism, religion, democracy, representative republic, etc). Each system seems to have pluses and minuses, the point being that no one of these systems solves all of society’s major challenges.

Feudalism and oligarchy don’t work. The super-wealthy will always try to convert any system back to that, and call it by any other name.
Corporatism is a kind of oligarchy concentrating the wealth in the hands of a few mega-conglomerate owners, who then use their power to control politics of the state.

Feudal Kings and dictators have long recognized their worst enemy: an educated population that has real political leverage. Therefore all legislation is aimed at disenfranchising the common man, in order to keep the masses divided, uneducated, in the dark about who really runs society and how they do it, and distracted by propaganda.

So we end up with oligarchy and call it democracy. We end up with monopolistic control of markets and call it Free Trade.

In the corporate oligarchy all kinds of goods are being produced, giving the illusion that the masses have power they don’t really have. Thus, you can watch harmless sitcoms on your new HDTV, but the real news is censored out, and the power of your vote is robbed.

You can’t get informed, and you have no say – but who cares – you can watch the pseudo-traumas of celebrities breaking up with the boyfriends and getting DUIs! That oughta fulfill you.

I have a dirty little secret to share with you. And so do many other like me, who were raised in military families. Military life is not a democracy. Everything is organized by your dad’s rank, whether he’s enlisted or an officer. You don’t have free speech. Everyone in the system has an ID (much like the universal IDs being contemplated for the nation today). Your ID gets you access. Your father or mother’s rank determines your standing. There is usually an underclass of locals who service a military base’s needs.

In the Military system, medical care is COMPLETELY socialized. If a GI’s son has a toothache, he simply sets an appointment and goes to the military hospital. Not even a co-payment. Totally, 100% socialized. Same goes for the education. All military schools are free, and in many places, good teaching talent is attracted to the job of teaching in the base school system.

As awkward as it sounds, the system works in a lot of ways. It is not primarily capitalistic, although capitalism certainly exists in and around bases. There is some measure of free speech and debate allowed, but more restricted among on-duty soldiers, with dependents having free speech among themselves. Whatever is published in an official Army newspaper has lots of censoring eyes on it, and stuff is routinely removed for containing a controversial view.

My conclusion is that capitalism is perhaps not the best organizing principle for society.

I think the other element you have named- social justice – needs to supersede it. If people use business to support a socially just society, I think the results are better than making business the highest priority and subverting social justice to profits.

I can’t help but think the strikes and the union movement in general are all about working out these issues in our society.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com otherlisa

I have often heard it said that if you want to know how “socialized medicine” might work in the United States, check out the US Military.

I’d take that system over what we have now.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com otherlisa

(I mean the medical one – not the military as a model for society – really, I should not post before my second cup of coffee…)
Chris Vosburg

Other Lisa writes: I have often heard it said that if you want to know how “socialized medicine” might work in the United States, check out the US Military.

No, that’s a medical insurance policy. Poor bastards.

If you want to know how know how “socialized medicine” might work in the United States, check out, oh, I dunno, a North American country which approximates the society and size of the US.

Canada. It’s that simple.

Kathleen

53 Senators voting yes on Mukasey last night placed the Statue of Liberty on a waterboard for all the world to see.

Who knows how Mukasey becoming the Attorney General could effect the upcoming espionage trial. Could he dismiss it, or undermine it?
oldtree

For those of us that haven’t been in unions, or better, those people that were in unions and are not at this time;
weigh you feelings about what you have lost when you lost your union. How did that affect the rest of your life? Lose your pension, living wage? the basics of human dignity?

It is time for all of us to have unions if we have to work for that unnamed corporate monolith. They will take from your backpocket as you volunteer what is in your front pocket.

I feel fortunate to be a part of one of these unions, and hope that everyone can find a way to regain the benefits of collective bargaining to protect your life and family.

solidarity is critical for humanity. We are otherwise being broken apart by a machine that knows what they seek

Kathleen

In the 1950′s 35 percent of the working force were in Unions, now I believe 10% of the working force are in Unions. We know collective bargaining and working side by side with the mass of the working force is the only way the greedy fuckers at the top will negotiate.

Andrew Stern is amazing

http://www.seiu.org/about/officers_bios/stern_bio.cfm

Kathleen

Hagel slams the administration and “neo-cons” for the imflammatory rhetoric about Iran
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Senator_Chuck_Hagel_slams_Bush_Iran_1108.html
Kathleen

Some interesting articles this morning

http://seattletimes.nwsource.c…..atada.html

Court bars second court-martial for Watada, for now

By Hal Bernton

Seattle Times staff reporter

Iran
http://www.informationclearing…..e18688.htm

http://www.informationclearing…..e18689.htm
http://www.informationclearing…..e18687.htm

Senators Hagel and Webb and G.I. bill
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11…..9webb.html

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

Great stuff … can you post these in one of the recent open threads, or the “hot news” thread? I’d like to keep this thread about the strike … I know it’s frustrating when there’s so much happening, but that’s one reason the “herd” here demanded that our techie guru Moses create more “recent comments” in the right column — and people will check that, and see that you’ve posted hot info in a thread, even if it’s not the most recent thread. The “herd” here is ADDICTED, I tell you, to that “Recent Comment” feature, so nothing you post will be missed.

Kathleen

You know about Andrew Stern right? He has been working on Union issues for quite some time.

Kathleen

Susan will continue to put the interesting articles at the open thread. Where is the “hot news” thread.

Can’t help myself have tolink this one for you it is a must read

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18687.htm

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

Kathleen, it dawned on me — I’m slow — that I needed to create a Friday open thread because, as you’ve proved, there is so much happening.

It’s up now. I threw up a story about Pakistan but left it wide open for ALL topics. GO FOR IT! And that goes for everyone!

Kathleen

I spent a great deal of time in small southeastern towns in Ohio during the last three elections. Glouster, Chauncey, Trimble, Pomeroy etc. Many of these towns flourished during the years of union jobs in the coal industry.

Now many of these towns have been beat down people working two jobs at minimum wage often they have a family member serving in Iraq. Many of these young people joined the military so that they could access a college education.

Unions provided away for people to access a middle income living. Now many are really stuck in a rats maze, barely able to find their way through that maze let alone get involved in the Democratic process (no time) Unions or access to a higher education are generally the only way out of that maze.
Stoic

You didn’t say why you had to cross the picket.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com otherlisa

I’m an executive – e.g., “management.”

Actually for now a lot of other unions/guilds are crossing – the WGA has not asked for other unions to join them or to not cross. There have been some SAG people who have joined the pickets and some people picket on their lunch hours. But there are still shows being produced, and except for WGA people, those are continuing.

So work goes on normally, except it’s not. Everyone is showing up and everyone is expected to show up.

The funniest thing is watching some execs drive past the pickets in their Lexii, honking their support.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com otherlisa

As clarification, I am not a fancy VP-type exec. I like to think of myself as a midlevel bureaucrat.

http://www.food4humanity.org hoosierhoops

As clarification, I am not a fancy VP-type exec. I like to think of myself as a midlevel bureaucrat

Otherlisa.. yea right..We just want to know if you know Brad Pitt, Julie Roberts or George Cloony..
what’s brittney up to today and where did Paris party last night..

I’m just play’n..
Enjoyed your post..keep up the good work!!
( really though, a signed pic of Julie would be nice,
Don’t forget to have her sign..’Hoopster with all my love..J. Roberts’ )
http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

If it is the economy, GOP may be in trouble
By Peter Nicholas
Any voter backlash over gas prices and the housing slump is expected to punish Republicans vying to replace Bush.

— In today’s LA Times ( I get their newsletter).

It’s so fascinating, I find, to hear the pundits — like Mort Zuckerman — talk about how GREAT the economy is doing, and how puzzled they are by polls that show most Americans very worried about the economy. There’s such a disconnect between the D.C./NYC elite who comment on the talk shows, and the rest of us.
mudkitty

Where are the Teamsters?

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com Other Lisa

Individual Teamsters have picketed, and every big truck I’ve seen that passes the pickets honks in support.

If they are asked to strike in solidarity, my guess is they will.

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

Woohoo. My daughter marched with big, burly Teamsters at the WTO protests in Seattle, and loved those guys. (btw, for history’s sake: They were the kind of people mostly at the protests, not “anarchists.” The media conspired to destroy the messages that the Teamsters and other unions were trying to send to the world.)

(And i could swear that almost all of the “violent” “anarchists” at the protest were plants. Since the police stood by and watched them smash windows and didn’t intervene.)

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com Other Lisa

Actually I should say that I don’t know what the contractual obligations of the Teamsters are and how that affects their ability to strike in solidarity (I’m not an HR/labor relations person). But I am pretty confident in saying that the rank and file support this strike.

Chris Vosburg

Other Lisa writes: Actually I should say that I don’t know what the contractual obligations of the Teamsters are and how that affects their ability to strike in solidarity (I’m not an HR/labor relations person). But I am pretty confident in saying that the rank and file support this strike.

Like any other union member, Teamsters are obligated by contract to do their job. But, like any other union member, be it DGA, Teamster, WGA, or what-have-you, as individuals, they are not contractually forbidden to cease work in support of a strike by another union.

Is your head spinning yet?

Incidentally, I most emphatically do not agree with your characterization of the sympathies of Teamsters. I deal with them every day on the Paramount lot, and they want the strike over, sure, but not a single one I’ve talked to commiserates with the WGA.

Do like honking the horn, though, and perhaps you have mistaken that as assent.

Yogi-one

The funniest thing is watching some execs drive past the pickets in their Lexii, honking their support.

OMG – can you say that again, more slowly – LEX -EE-I. That would be plural.

Man, I’m driving a 91 two door Tercel! Lexi-i! Hahahaha! You made my night!

Kudos,

Yogi
Yogi-one

oops-Sorry about the blockquote snafu – I was wondering why the button displayed as slash/blockquote. The quote is the top part actually.
Chris Vosburg

I should probably supplement the comments I’ve made here and am about to make with an explanation of what I do for a living. I work for a company that rents video and computer equipment to movie productions. If you and I sat down to watch TV or went to a movie, I’d constantly be saying “yeah, that’s one of ours” at inappropriate times.

Me, I repair the stuff. That’s it. That’s my job. I’m non-union.

Although I don’t work for Paramount, we are housed on the lot, as an “on-lot vendor” in Paramount’s terminology, in the basement under one of Paramount’s many stages. Dr Phil shoots his shit upstairs.

So, I get to meet many people, nearly all of whom make more money than me by virtue of the fact that they belong to some union or other. Most of them, and this is opinion mind you, are not worth the money they are paid. That’s unions for ya.

That said, the sympathy, if any, for the WGA exists entirely off-lot, and in the minds of those who are distant enough from the nuts-and-bolts business of making movies as Other Lisa is.

Other Lisa, you are a good person, and your comments here are among my favorites, but characterizing writers as overworked proles under the spiked boot of capitalism is just silly– You know better than this.

The WGA is shooting itself in the foot, big time.

It’s not that I have no sympathy for them. It’s just that I know for a fact that there isn’t a way out of this for them except to shut up and negotiate the goddam contract to the best of their abilities, with people at table.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com otherlisa

Boy Chris, you’ve misunderstood my point and also my position in the industry. I work in a creative/development/production area (and that’s as much as I’m willing to say). I work directly with executives and with productions.

I also know quite a lot of craft and union people. In my experience they are professional and do a great job. I’m not saying that’s universal. But what is wrong with workers in a wealthy industry like film/TV being well-paid for what they do? What’s wrong with middle-class wages for laborers?

My point is that the middle class and even upper middle class (which would be most of the WGA members) are under pressure and that creative people like writers deserve a share of the profit from their work. And that, yes, income disparity has reached a point where it seriously threatens democracy. Someone have the stat about how much wealth the richest 300,000 make in this country versus the lowest 150 million? It’s on my desk at work. I’ll find it on Monday.

I’ll restate it: when Hollywood pays a single individual over 28 million dollars in compensation annually, it is beyond hypocritical to plead poverty when others ask for a piece.

I quite understand that showrunners are contractually obligated to produce their shows and that most of them are also WGA members. They made a choice and went with their WGA affiliation. I wouldn’t want to be in their position.

You might want to check out http://mutantpoodle.com – this is a blog written by a friend of mine who is a former high level studio finance guy – he knows all about the numbers and has a strong opinion about the strike.

Chris Vosburg

If it’s not already clear, let me be explicit.

This strike is going to hurt my livelihood. Although it hasn’t happened yet, business will decline, and I will in accordance with a reduced workload start working a reduced week.

So forgive my lack of sympathy.

Other Lisa, how will this affect your job?

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com otherlisa

Chris, I really don’t know. Because a lot of my work deals with features and there are a lot of features in the pipeline, it will take a while before it impacts my area. We also have a lot of work to do that does not relate to the flow of production. But you never know, and I never expect certainty.

This strike has already affected a lot of incomes. All of the overhead deals have been shuttered, putting quite a few assistants and development people out of work as of yesterday.

This is going to hurt a lot of people, and that just sucks.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com otherlisa

Hmmm, I tried to post a link to a youtube thing on the strike and I think the spam filter ate it. I’ll try a straight version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ55Ir2jCxk&eurl