the writer's strike revisted

[helpimarock]

Wait, wait, wait, stop the presses.

I was just reading the news and came across a column on the low down of the recent writer's strike. I really didn't pay much attention to the strike because very little of the programming I watch on TV was affected by it.

Comments

[blozor]

The problem came in when corporations like Viacom decided to sue YouTube for over a billion dollars, claiming that they make over $500 million per year in ad revenue from online content, then they turn around and tell the writers that their online content is worthless because it's free.

Basically, the industry felt that they could survive without the writers and soon discovered that people didn't really like a variety of nothing but game shows, talent contests, and "reality" TV. It feels good to see writers get the recognition they deserve as an essential part of the creative process.

[helpimarock]

Yeah, don't get me wrong, the media corporations were being assholes as usual. I guess it's just that both sides of the scenario irk the hell out of me in situations like this. Whenever I see big business and unions tangle I get all agitated and start mumbling stuff like "the system doesn't work!" Because, well, it kinda doesn't.

I'm glad the writer's got what they deserve in the end. Who wouldn't be? But I just get really annoyed at all parties when it comes down to striking, regardless of who is right or wrong.

[lizerati]

The major issues regarding internet residuals were centered around two things

[lizerati]

In short, the strike is more about new tv being aired online than it is older tv available on DVD. (although dvd residuals are a whole different and hot issue with writers & networkis :) )

[helpimarock]

Yeah and they gave up on the DVD residuals too which I thought would have been more worthwhile to pursue than the online stuff. Interesting.

P.S. thanks for the info!

[lizerati]

I think the writers are correct in that the internet is going to play a much larger role in how people watch tv in the future. Although they were essentially tricked in to removing dvd residuals from the table. (The networks intimated that they would deal fairly if dvds were not an issue... and then didn't once they were removed)

[zenithblue]

Unions have some problems, but unions have been as much a victim of a media blitz as anything. Frankly I think one of the reasons a lot of blue collar folk are disenchanted with unions is a lot of misinformation. Here's the deal, people: the union is what you make it. It literally belongs to you. If it's corrupt or whatever, it's because the people who are speaking out in its contexts are not doing the job you want them to do. Well, stand up for yourselves. Make it the union you want it to be.

I myself am pretty feverishly pro-union, having worked jobs with and without and having gotten fucked pretty remarkably in the latter. And I'll admit, some of my experiences with the union were occasionally frustrating; but overall it was worth it. That was the first job I ever made a living wage at.

(And seconding the other comments on the writers' strike--some of these people were working extra hours on top of their normal loads to create content for the internet, that they weren't going to be paid for. That is pretty well crap.)

[antarcticlust]

Agreed - the Labor Movement are the nice folks who brought us the 40-hour work week, the eight-hour work day, etc., and are working to maintain worker's benefits in industries (like automotives) that are being heavily outsourced to other countries, where the employees are not unionized. I don't think I could have read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States and not be pro-union at the end.

The writer's strike issue has been pretty well-covered, but fundamentally, these folks were getting paid a very small percentage of the profits for their work to begin with, and in independently-contracted, one-shot-deal positions like theirs, they would otherwise have little in the way of benefits (like health care). This was about them getting their fare share of content that the media corp folks were getting 100% of the profits from.

[helpimarock]

I'm not disagreeing with the benefits of the Labor Movement. In fact, that's my point -- many of the unions today (all of them to some extent) contradict workers rights established in the barbaric conditions of the Industrial Era. For example, being forced to work *less* than 40 hours a week or *less* than 8 hours a day even though full time or overtime is desperately needed. I've seen people have their cars repossessed because unions wouldn't let them work enough and, frankly, that's utter bullshit and represents a major flaw in American society.

[antarcticlust]

I'm not familiar with the conditions you're referring to - unless you're talking about how strikes affect workers. Obviously workers take the hit during a strike, but the end result is much better than if they hadn't striked at all.