Ghod yes. This strike may go on forever. I really don't see how it can be resolved at the moment. For a lot of reasons - the main one being that the AMPTM is not an united front. They have conflicting interests. The people behind the Oscars are going to try and push things, but I'll be surprised if they are successful. Best we can hope for is agreements by studio, which is hardly fair to the writers who write for the studios that won't negotiate.
There's option 3 of course - which I finally chose, not to work for corporate America. Not that government will be much better, but at least I won't be laid-off to make some share=holder happy. Writers could make their own films, own tv shows, and produce them on the internet. Heck people already are. I don't want them to, but it is an option. It's what writers like my father are doing - who have gotten fed up with the publishing industry and are publishing it themselves.
I don't know. I'm tired of being angry about it. I can't fight them. And to be honest? The WGA isn't striking because they don't have health ins (they do - got that way back in the 60s) and they aren't striking because they don't get vacation (they get more than I do) and they aren't striking because they don't get decent pay (they get paid for their work - $6,000 a script depending). No, they are striking to get residual royalties. Which isn't the same thing. Not that I don't think they have a right to these things or shouldn't be concerned about them. But...at the same time I'm not sure they are worth someone losing their employment and being laid-off (but then I've been laid-off three times, so my sympathy is obviously with those people and not the ones who can't be laid off because it is against the law to lay-off or fire a striking union member).
This is VERY different than the striking Viacom freelance writers who did get their vacation (only had five days to begin with), health insurance, and sick time yanked out from under them without warning. I don't blame them for walking. I'd walk too. But they aren't part of the WGA deal or affected, that's another union. Or the soon to be announced Amtrack employees who have been working without a contract for eight years, no increases, no wage increases, and are afraid of losing their benefits. Of course the effects of the Amtrack strike will be felt a lot more severly and a lot faster just as the Broadway stage hands strike was felt (that was about proposed lay-offs).
Sigh. I live in strike central. LOL! And I've been unemployed or fighting to get a job for so long now that I have troubles understanding people who take it for granted. And yes, I've done slave labor. Crappy jobs that would make people roll their eyes. So it's hard for me to understand. At the same time, I do think the AMPTM is wrong. But I also know that the situation is insane - the WGA is united, the AMPTM is not. They have diverging interests. Newscorp really has no reason to negotiate - they've got American Idol and produce mostly reality - allowing reality show writers to join and granting residuals hurts their bottom line. But ABC, NBC and CBS are getting hurt. As is CW - Warner already announced lay-offs.
What I see? Is the beginnings of a class war. The rich vs. the poor. We're in a recession. People are losing their homes. Their jobs. The middle class is shrinking rapidly. Raises and bonuses are almost non-existent. And prices are sky-rocketing. Meanwhile we have a deficit in the stratosphere and an enviromental problem. The decisions made in the 80's, 90's and early 00's are catching up with us. This is going to be a very interesting year. And a hard one for a lot of people.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 12:59 am (UTC)There's option 3 of course - which I finally chose, not to work for corporate America. Not that government will be much better, but at least I won't be laid-off to make some share=holder happy. Writers could make their own films, own tv shows, and produce them on the internet. Heck people already are. I don't want them to, but it is an option. It's what writers like my father are doing - who have gotten fed up with the publishing industry and are publishing it themselves.
I don't know. I'm tired of being angry about it. I can't fight them. And to be honest? The WGA isn't striking because they don't have health ins (they do - got that way back in the 60s) and they aren't striking because they don't get vacation (they get more than I do) and they aren't striking because they don't get decent pay (they get paid for their work - $6,000 a script depending). No, they are striking to get residual royalties. Which isn't the same thing. Not that I don't think they have a right to these things or shouldn't be concerned about them. But...at the same time I'm not sure they are worth someone losing their employment and being laid-off (but then I've been laid-off three times, so my sympathy is obviously with those people and not the ones who can't be laid off because it is against the law to lay-off or fire a striking union member).
This is VERY different than the striking Viacom freelance writers who did get their vacation (only had five days to begin with), health insurance, and sick time yanked out from under them without warning. I don't blame them for walking. I'd walk too. But they aren't part of the WGA deal or affected, that's another union. Or the soon to be announced Amtrack employees who have been working without a contract for eight years, no increases, no wage increases, and are afraid of losing their benefits. Of course the effects of the Amtrack strike will be felt a lot more severly and a lot faster just as the Broadway stage hands strike was felt (that was about proposed lay-offs).
Sigh. I live in strike central. LOL! And I've been unemployed or fighting to get a job for so long now that I have troubles understanding people who take it for granted.
And yes, I've done slave labor. Crappy jobs that would make people roll their eyes. So it's hard for me to understand. At the same time, I do think the AMPTM is wrong. But I also know that the situation is insane - the WGA is united, the AMPTM is not. They have diverging interests. Newscorp really has no reason to negotiate - they've got American Idol and produce mostly reality - allowing reality show writers to join and granting residuals hurts their bottom line. But ABC, NBC and CBS are getting hurt. As is CW - Warner already announced lay-offs.
What I see? Is the beginnings of a class war.
The rich vs. the poor. We're in a recession. People are losing their homes. Their jobs.
The middle class is shrinking rapidly. Raises and bonuses are almost non-existent. And prices are sky-rocketing. Meanwhile we have a deficit in the stratosphere and an enviromental problem. The decisions made in the 80's, 90's and early 00's are catching up with us. This is going to be a very interesting year. And a hard one for a lot of people.