Writers in the entertainment industry are scheduled to go on strike tomorrow (Monday Nov. 5, 2007) which means that many TV shows will be shut down and go into reruns and that no new movies or TV shows will be written or produced until the strike is resolved. Where do we here at Monkey Muck stand on this matter? By way of an answer let me quote some lyrics of an old labor movement song:
"Stick to the union, stick to the union, I'm sticking to the union till the day I die." That's right boy and girls, we are supporting the writers in this and every other strike they may have in the future. The hitch, as I understand it, is that the writers want their fair share of DVD sales revenue and they want to be paid when the fruits of their labors are used in the so called "new media," which is the internets and all the ancillary media that stems from the internets. Seems reasonable to me, after all without the writers there would be no product to put out there in the first place, so it's only fair that writers get paid for all the ways the TV and movie studios profit from their works.
This country would be in far worse shape than it is today if the brave men and women of organized labor had not taken a stand in the many stand off all those years ago and up to the present. You would not have a 5 day work week if it had not been for unions, nor would you have any other benefits that unions brought us. In the dark days before organized labor there was no such thing as workman's compensation insurance, health insurance (and I realize that most employers are cutting this out even as I write this), 40 hour work week, work place safety standards, and laws that prohibited child labor. Company bosses pretty much had the run of things and there was no recourse for any grievance and if you complained you were fired and or beaten up and killed.
But thanks to the brave union men and women of the late 19th and early 20th century we have a much safer, saner, and more equitable working environment today, even in spite of the Bush administration's anti union propaganda and their attempts to drag labor back to the 70's, the 1770's.
The next time you hear someone bad mouth unions remind them that without unions that they'd be working about 80 hours a week in unsafe conditions with no insurance whatsoever and with no legal rights to sue if something went wrong on the job.
So of course I am supporting the writers and I hope they stay out on strike until they get what they want. Speaking as a writer, albeit a not for profit writer, and I intend to stay that way since I won't put ads on my blog, I'd want to be properly compensated too if I was in their shoes. The works of these writers will live for many many years in reruns, on DVD's, and on the net, so hell yes, the writers deserve to get every penny they can out of the studios and entertainment corporations. I've lived through coal miners strikes, a UPS strike, the writers strike of the late 80's and you know what? None of those strikes hurt this country at all, in fact they made things better for the working man. So what if I miss a few episodes of
The Daily Show and so what if
The Late Show with David Letterman sucks a little if his writers walk? I'll gladly take the temporary inconvenience if working and creative people get paid what they're worth in the long run.
"Stick to the union, stick to the union, I'm sticking to the union till the day I die." That's right boy and girls, we are supporting the writers in this and every other strike they may have in the future. The hitch, as I understand it, is that the writers want their fair share of DVD sales revenue and they want to be paid when the fruits of their labors are used in the so called "new media," which is the internets and all the ancillary media that stems from the internets. Seems reasonable to me, after all without the writers there would be no product to put out there in the first place, so it's only fair that writers get paid for all the ways the TV and movie studios profit from their works.
This country would be in far worse shape than it is today if the brave men and women of organized labor had not taken a stand in the many stand off all those years ago and up to the present. You would not have a 5 day work week if it had not been for unions, nor would you have any other benefits that unions brought us. In the dark days before organized labor there was no such thing as workman's compensation insurance, health insurance (and I realize that most employers are cutting this out even as I write this), 40 hour work week, work place safety standards, and laws that prohibited child labor. Company bosses pretty much had the run of things and there was no recourse for any grievance and if you complained you were fired and or beaten up and killed.
16 comments:
Bossy supports the writers all the way. She loves her some writers. She wants to be one when she grows up.
And's that's one of the many reasons why I love you Bossy dear.
And from a strictly selfish point of view, maybe some of those incredible screenplays that you just know are sitting around waiting for their chance will be produced.
People may misunderstand the writer's grievancances because of where and who they are, but you explain it well-its still the worker trying to get what's rightfully theirs just like a coal miner, garment worker or custodial worker.
They are writers and they are in a union... I support them completely.
It is always about the worker not getting what they have worked for.
People love to laugh at this and bash unions.
Like on a weekend, which they can thank the union for.
BTW Mr He Is' company is still lurking trying to break that union. Please send a good thought our way. Mr Big Boss Gazillionaire has already spent way more on lawyers over this. It sucks.
Great post!
This is going to sound really mean... but...
Any worker -- that is, non-owner, or not a person who sits in that middle tier of stock traders and what not -- who isn't pro-union is an idiot.
Or a masochist.
I don't feel like supporting my position; I'll let you do that for me because I'm tired.
That doesn't sound mean at all. It sounds right!
Having seen the incredible incompetence of the Chicago Teacher's Union during our last contact negotiations, having worked with really incompetent teachers who were protected by the union, and having been fired because that union's contract had a glitch in it that allowed the CPS to fire 5th year teachers who were supposed to have been tenured, I can only say that while I support the *idea* of unions, and the good things that they have done in the past, my own union experience was anything but positive.
I appreciate what unions do and can do and I've shared in the benefits of their hard work (and mine) but I've also had to share work space with a lot of grossly incompetent folks who apart from the protection the union provides, would not otherwise be employable.
It sounds like what the writers want has a lot of merit though and I hope they get what's theirs.
I was shocked when I found out they weren't ALREADY getting paid for Internets/other media usage. That's ridiculous! I'm behind them all the way.
unions all the way!
Barb-Hopefully after they settle.
Micgar-You hit the nail right on the head.
Fran-Thanks.
UberMILF-I agree.
Lulu and Dale-The good unions do far outweigh the bad people the shield.
Dguz-You and me both sister.
Notsoccermom-Yay unions!
One comment to Lulu: I would venture to say that teachers' unions do not "protect incompetent teachers." They ensure that ALL teachers are protected from incompetent administration, and that ALL teachers -- even incompetent ones -- receive due process. I have been a teacher for 21 years, and every case I have seen of an incompetent teacher remaining in a position has been because administration failed to adequately document and did not follow correct procedure, which would lead to termination. The unions are right to protect teachers in those instances, even incompetent ones.
Teachers have a responsibility to know what is in their contract before ratifying it to avoid "glitches" like the one that messed you up.
Dale, same response to you. Unions protect the rights of all workers. The burden of proving that someone is not doing their job is NOT the responsibility of the union, it is the responsibility of the employer.
That said, my union has done some obnoxious things over the years, and I haven't hesitated to call or write and take them to task. I AM my union and I expect the leadership to listen to me.
We are screwed in this country w/o our trade and labor unions. As Steve Earle points out, unions are one leg of our democracy. Unions made it possible for people who were not college educated to get a living wage and to send their own kids to college. The demise of unions, and the spreading of bad press, has been intentional. Workers in this country are suffering and it's only going to get worse as jobs in the service sector are outsourced.
I am behind the writers all the way.
Suzy,
My experience is perhaps colored by the fact that when I and over 700 other teachers were let go last year, the official union response was to quickly blame the other faction, who had been in power when the contract was signed. At no time did anyone from the union express anything remotely like sympathy or concern. One of the first things my field rep said was "Now you know what you need to vote for ______" in the upcoming elections." Hello, I just got fired, I don't give a shit about the elections, tell me how my COBRA coverage works, tell me what the union is going to do for me.
The people in power were so concerned about staying in power,and were willing to do whatever it took to stay there, even if it was in the best interests of the people they were supposed to be representing.
(Both my grandfathers were union guys, working factory jobs and putting bread on the table, and I have nothing but respect, but the Chicago Teachers Union was a mess)
I support the writers in their efforts to receive fair compensation for their labor. Besides, anyone who can't live without their television for a little while probably should have it taken away from them.
I'm sorry about the loss of your job, Lulu. No, unions aren't perfect. They are made up of human beings. I shudder to think where we would be without them, though. I'd much rather have imperfect unions than none at all. And let's not forget that corporate anti-union propagandists spend around $1,000,000 for every $1 spent in pro-union advertising. It's no wonder that unions are struggling in the public opinion arena.
Lulu, it sounds pretty ugly, and I didn't mean to trivialize your concern. I just have a hard time when people say that unions protect incompetent workers. I think that's a myth.
I'm in a much smaller district than Chicago, and possibly w/o institutionalized corruption of the same magnitude, but it drives me CRAZY to hear teachers bitching about the union, but then not bothering to attend meetings, vote on issues, or become educated in any way -- even to the extent of reading the weekly bulletin. In our union, there is a lot of room for getting involved at many different levels if one chooses to do so.
The other thing I know is that union work is thankless; professional organizers get chewed up and spit out if they don't develop a thick skin -- and developing a thick skin has its risks.
Once again, I'm sorry.
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