NEWS: Why The Writers Are On Strike

POLITICS: Why The Writers Are On Strike

Television and film writers will officially go on strike one minute after I post this. 12:01 AM, Monday. This will probably be an ugly strike and you will hear a lot of nasty things said about writers. We will be portrayed as spoiled brats who are putting an entire industry out of work to make a couple extra bucks. By the time the strike is over America will think we all sit around feeding our white Persian cats freshly killed Tuna, while throwing diamonds at our pool boys bottom as we are being fed caviar by our personal chef/masseuse, Armando.

The truth is, most writers in the guild are middle class or below. The median income is about that of a schoolteacher. Do some writers make a fortune? Of course. Are there writers who barely scrape by? A lot more than the ones making a fortune. But you won’t be hearing that story because we are fighting against media companies. How fairly do you think this strike will be reported on channels owned by Disney, Fox or Viacom? So, expect to hear a lot about our Land Rovers, Porsches, Armando and all of the crew people we are putting out of work by striking.

Already, we are being attacked by the masses for our greedy stance, which is the way the new America operates. Everyone seems very happy to allow those at the top to make as much money as possible and anyone who asks for a tiny bit of the billions is greedy. Meanwhile, the companies making billions by firing employees and cutting pensions are somehow honorable. It is bizarre and idiotic thinking, but that is where we find ourselves.

The Writers are fortunate to have received the Teamsters backing. While not ordering their members not to cross picked lines, the teamsters have been told they may honor picket lines and their union will back them up. Studios have reacted by calling teamsters in to their offices in groups and asking them if they planned to cross the line. They have been threatened with unemployment if they do honor the line, which would violate the studios contract with the teamsters. Teamsters have it written into every contract that they cannot be punished for refusing to cross a picket line. It is a huge sacrifice if they do honor the line and they didn’t come to this decision lightly. But they understand the larger implications: This dispute is not just about writers. We are the first union that is fighting for our rights and equal pay when it comes to the Internet. What we do now will affect every union in Hollywood.

Here is one Teamsters opinion on the strike.

The studios would like the world to believe we are fighting over the money we receive for DVD sales. That is completely untrue. The fight for DVD money ended years ago. Currently writers receive 4 cents for every DVD sold. We’d like to increase that to 8 cents. DVDs cost 10 bucks. Aren’t we a bunch of money grabbing bastards?

The reason the focus will be on DVDs is because years ago the Guild agreed to a terrible contract on home media sales. The studios told us that DVDs and home videos were not yet an established business. They claimed they couldn’t set up a payment system for writers until they knew whether or not it was successful and how it would fall into place. They were, of course, lying. Writers were then stuck with a terrible contract for twenty years. Now the studios are saying the EXACT SAME THING about the Internet. Again, it isn’t an established business, so how can they commit to a payment plan? Blah, blah, blah.

What the producers did not understand was the deep feelings of anger that writers have had for years over the DVD contract and how we were taken advantage of after negotiating in good faith. Every time we look at a DVD on a store shelf, we are reminded of how we are getting screwed. And now the anger has a place to go because the producers are giving us a chance to win a battle we have been simmering about for 20 years. Way to bring to union together, fat cats.

I’ve never seen the Guild this unified. Two weeks ago we voted to authorize a strike and 90% supported the action. On Thursday night we had a meeting and Guild members were completely behind our negotiating team. Not one member voiced their opposition. We know whom we are fighting. We understand the battle we are fighting.

This is not an average negotiation. This is a 20-year negotiation. In the '40s the Guild was formed after a strike threat. In the '60s the Guild walked for health, pension and residuals. In the '80s the Guild walked for Cable coverage, DVD payments and home video. Now there is a new medium and if we don’t take a stand, many writers will lose their ability to survive. As will actors and on down the line.

This is all about Internet streaming and downloads. The Guild has put forth an offer of 2.5%. That is 2 and a half cents for every dollar. Producers have countered with ZERO and will not come back to the table until we agree to that generous offer. So, basically they will not negotiate until we agree to not negotiate. Producers claim they are not making any money off of the Internet, that it is just “promotional.” In the proposal they offered, they stated “promotional” includes shows that are “aired in entirety” and for which they “receive a fee.” (NBC made $15 million “promoting” shows on iTunes last year.)

So, why are we so concerned with this money? Residuals are the name of the game for writers. We aren’t employed constantly and it allows us to survive during the rough times, which we use to write scripts and come up with pitches. Guess who profits off of that system? The studios. If we agreed to their demands, the studios would be killing their own product, plain and simple. No one would have time to write because they would have day jobs, which would mean far less new ideas being pitched. The money ABC has made of off Desperate Housewives is probably more than the residuals paid to the entire Guild over that same period. A writer was living on residuals when he created the show.

The poor producers claim they’re not making money off of the Internet, even though they show commercials during shows and charge for downloads in a medium that costs them almost nothing in overhead. At the same time, they are boasting to their shareholders how profitable the Internet will be and that that they ARE already making money. So, which is it?

To date the producers have been nothing short of disgusting in their approach to negotiations. We wanted to meet in early July. They waited until mid-July. They then gave us a 30-page proposal that had nothing to do with the issues at hand and wanted writers to take massive pay cuts. (Way to unify Guild members, idiots.) Then they wouldn’t meet until late September. Since September, producers have yet to even discuss any of our demands. They just refuse to talk about them. We took 9 of our 25 demands off the table, important substantial demands, and the producers responded with NOTHING. They simply refuse to negotiate. All they have been doing is attempting to use the media to undermine our negotiators in hopes of splitting the Guild. Their actions give us no alternative but to strike.

How long wills it last? Nobody knows, but I would expect it to go on for some time. I think writers will lose homes, the California economy will suffer and then the entire country. (Entertainment makes up 7% of the US economy.) But we will hold strong, for the simple fact that we are really, really angry and have been for quite some time. Many shows that began this season will die miserable deaths. Shows with declining audience numbers that are difficult to follow, like "Lost", may disappear as well.

What the studios seems to not understand is that it is their best interest to keep the writers working for them. They are following a plan that has completely undermined the music business. Treat those you count on like crap and those people will find their own way. I have one word for studios to mull over: Radiohead. If they don’t think writers will use this time to figure out a way to take their product directly to consumers via the Internet, they are out of their minds. We will and at that point they can remember fondly that 1% download money they saved.

So does that put the Newswire on strike now?

Stick it to the motherfuckin' man.

Best of luck, to you and to the guild.

I hope the strike makes a dramatic impact tho I am jaded and skeptical

Fingers crossed FTR... the Teamster support is big & could go a long way towards getting the studios' attention...

I hear that negotiations have been continuing through the evening so that could also be a good sign. WGA seems better prepared for this one.

Barton Fink ?

I'm glad I have the chance to see this side of it here since watching the "news" won't be worth watching. I have a friend of mine who is a stuntman, I'll have to talk to him and see his take on this as well.

The entire first paragraph is how I think of producers.

I have a class on Preproduction to go to on Tuesday, and I am greatly looking forward to what the professor (who fancies himself a producer) will have to say about the whole thing.

All this and I still aim to get into the industry. Boy, do I love getting myself killed.

P.S. Good luck.

Good luck.

Wow.I had no idea how little writers are getting.Thank you for another piece of education.Good luck with this.

as much as i want the answers to all the bizarreness that is Lost, I think you guys are doing something important. Good Luck.

Good Luck FTR, and to all the writers out there, i hope you get what you are finally owed

the disparity of not getting enough to live,...yet given just enough so you don't die.

This is a fantastically informative article. Thank you so much.

Good Luck!

Good luck, indeed.

I wish you luck, but welcome to the real world, shit happens and tomorrow you may find yourself out of a job. Adapt.

Good luck! It makes me really sick to see how much money is being made and how poorly that money is being paid back to the people who create things.

Online content owned equally by those who make it will be the future that I support.

This top heavy shit has got to go!

Good luck, FTR. Kick some ass, and bring me back Lost.

Kick ass, FTR. Kick it righteously.

I hope this is over soon for all involved. I hope all my favorite shows don't die horrible deaths now...there's one that's in it's last season 3/4 the way through fucking producers.

Thanks for clearing that up, I had no idea the shit you had to deal with !! Good Luck !!