Yay oh wait
LA this summer! pic.twitter.com/5uJqSdyuP8— Americana At Brand Memes (@americanamemes) June 6, 2023
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 04:49 (one year ago) link
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/david-byrne-history-of-union-avoidance_n_647e6c0fe4b0047ed782e1ad
― papal hotwife (milo z), Wednesday, 7 June 2023 02:24 (one year ago) link
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/writers-strike-sag-aftra-actors-1235508507/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 9 June 2023 16:46 (eleven months ago) link
this may be a dumb question, but ... are they getting strike benefits from the Union and how do strike benefits work, and what role do they play in successful vs. unsuccessful labor actions?
― sarahell, Friday, 9 June 2023 18:22 (eleven months ago) link
According to this story, projectionists at an NYC Alamo Drafthouse (unclear which) filed a petition to unionize WedsOn Fri, Alamo sent an email notifying of its intention to eliminate the projectionist role and replace with with "technical engineer" https://t.co/D08dT7xlEH— Screen Slate (@ScreenSlate) June 11, 2023
― papal hotwife (milo z), Sunday, 11 June 2023 20:36 (eleven months ago) link
good.
― Nhex, Sunday, 11 June 2023 21:19 (eleven months ago) link
With their latest win, @SBWorkersUnited is now in 80% of U.S. states.The union's recent victory in Missoula, Montana means that there are now 331 unionized Starbucks spread across 40 states.Just 1.5 years ago there were zero.https://t.co/Owmwgi3A9a— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) June 26, 2023
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 26 June 2023 21:22 (eleven months ago) link
Pretty good background on the WGA itself, and what it provides its members
https://podtail.com/en/podcast/bonehead-humor/ep-285-todd-farmer-and-the-wga-strike/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 3 July 2023 21:11 (eleven months ago) link
SAG-AFTRA went to bed
― mookieproof, Thursday, 13 July 2023 07:55 (ten months ago) link
https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/bob-iger-writers-actors-strike-disney-ceo-1235669169/
Hahaha respectfully sir, fuck you
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 13 July 2023 15:23 (ten months ago) link
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/culture/2023/7/13/23793828/sag-aftra-strike-wga-hollywood
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 13 July 2023 21:24 (ten months ago) link
I didn't realize that Fran Drescher was such a militant firebrand
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 13 July 2023 21:25 (ten months ago) link
Fran Drescher's speech is worth watching:
The business model has changed for all of us - this applies to music equally #solidarity pic.twitter.com/j8sbmisCD3— Damon K š¤ (@dada_drummer) July 13, 2023
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 13 July 2023 21:51 (ten months ago) link
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/notes-on-hollywood/orange-is-the-new-black-signalled-the-rot-inside-the-streaming-economy
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, 16 July 2023 11:44 (ten months ago) link
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/notes-on-hollywood/orange-is-the-new-black-signalled-the-rot-inside-the-streaming-economyšø
― Gerard Grisey Funk (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, 16 July 2023 15:41 (ten months ago) link
H/t sleeve
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/actors-strike-sag-artificial-intelligence-hollywood-studios-background-1234788191/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:23 (ten months ago) link
I meant to C&P this good Janis Ian post along with that link, here it is:
* you may share anything I post here.A few people on this page have objected to the SAG-AFTRA strike on the grounds that "you get to do what you love" "you're overpaid already" "I can't afford to take my kids to movies because of you" and my favorite, "I can't afford tickets to sports events any more."???So let me explain just a couple of things.- Statistically, 2% of actors make a living wage. Even fewer singers make that much.- SAG-AFTRA doesn't only represent actors. It represents singers, dancers, DJs, puppeteers, stunt performers, and dozens of other professions. - You may work in an industry that will contribute to your pension fund, provide matching funds, provide health benefits. We get none of that. The only benefits artists get are through our unions, and we pay for those. - Years ago, the union caved to Amazon and its subsidiaries by making deals that ruined audiobook narration and a host of other things. As a personal instance, I narrated The Singer and the Song, which was nominated for an Audie (the audiobook equivalent of a Grammy nomination). It involved singing parts of more than 20 songs, creating new arrangements for them all that would suit solo vocal and guitar, researching names of places and pronunciations, and a host of other things. I spent two full weeks of my life on the project and was paid for 7 hour's work, because that's how long the audiobook plays. At that time, the rate was about $230 an hour, so for my two week's work I was paid $134 a day, or about $14 an hour for a basic nine hour day.- Most performer's "days" are more like 12 hours.- Most performers earn in the region of $8-$10 an hour if they're lucky. - The studios are not "negotiating". Read the below article from Rolling Stone to see what they want from us. If you happened to be lucky enough to be a "background actor" on a show that needs warm bodies in a restaurant, or walking around the street, you'd be paid $200 for up to 16 hour's work, and have to agree to have your body scanned, after which the studio would OWN that scan and the right to use it FOREVER. - As a last aside, please don't come on my page and tell me artists get to do what we love so we shouldn't be paid for it, because we don't really work as hard as non-artists. Until I stopped touring, 12-hour work days were routine, and I was lucky if that's all it took. Thank you for your support, of art, and of artists.
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:25 (ten months ago) link
Damn, good post. And YIKES.
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:30 (ten months ago) link
also relevant along w/the Black Mirror episode everyone is referencing that I have not seen
https://bojackhorseman.fandom.com/wiki/Secretariat_(film)
After an incident with her and her daughter Penny, BoJack returned to L.A. to find the film has been finished without him. They did this by using a CGI version of BoJack, which was created from a computer scan they did of his face during the first few weeks of shooting in Brand New Couch. In fact, they actually replaced the real BoJack with the CGI version for the entire movie, meaning that BoJack technically isn't in the film at all.
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:31 (ten months ago) link
https://deadline.com/2023/07/oliver-stone-oppenheimer-sag-aftra-wga-strike-roots-1235438219/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:52 (ten months ago) link
truth bomb from above link:
āI donāt think it will be wrapped up quickly. Because well, I donāt understand the economics of Netflix and these new guys, but itās the same old bullsh*t. You know theyāre making money and they always say theyāre losing money. Itās the classic conflict that goes back to the 1880s in America.ā
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:57 (ten months ago) link
So Netflix also hides viewership figures from cast and crew, too? Creeps.
Not just Netflix. Tony Gilroy, showrunner of Andor on Disney+: https://www.indiewire.com/awards/industry/tony-gilroy-andor-emmy-nomination-wga-strike-1234883534/
Critics have raved about it, but it doesnāt necessarily have the highest viewership for Star Wars. What would you tell people who have maybe hesitated to watch it?
Iām gonna go back to the strike then. One of the central issues of this entire labor experience is that I donāt have any idea what the audience is. We donāt know what that is, and I think that the obscurity of data doesnāt help anyone. Really. I think it looks like low-hanging fruit and easy profitability for certain corporations, but in the end it just crushes any kind of free market. It crushes the economics of the business, it means people are being overpaid and underpaid and never properly paid. It means that productions are overloaded with expenses up top because what used to be commonly residuals and royalties now have to be front loaded. I think itās distorted and warped and is close to ruining this amazing industry. So I wish I knew how many people watched, I wish I knew who they were, and Iām not sure that thatās possible.
― Roz, Monday, 17 July 2023 02:30 (ten months ago) link
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/hollywoods-cruel-strategy/674730/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 18 July 2023 18:33 (ten months ago) link
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/os-angeles-shooting-days-plummet-writers-strike-1235539756/amp/
Lotta shooting not happening
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 19 July 2023 20:20 (ten months ago) link
Everything has been said on the thread already, Iām really hoping both writers and performers get what they deserve.
If you arenāt working in the industry and want to support, please consider using less Netflix/Disney + type streaming for the coming weeks or months, there are great alternatives for top content that arenāt benifiting these ghouls!
― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, 19 July 2023 21:05 (ten months ago) link
Great piece on Starbucks and their ownerās stonewalling and general evil vibe.
― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Friday, 21 July 2023 11:21 (ten months ago) link
Yeah thatās a fantastic piece and close to home for me. A Starbucks near my workplace is also unionized so Iāve patronized them feeling a bit self-righteous for doing so (worker solidarity!) but knowing that no unionized Starbucks has a contract makes me feel like shit now. Iāve wanted to talk to the baristas about their union experience but havenāt thinking theyād be wary of talking to a customer about their experiences.
― Gerard Grisey Funk (Boring, Maryland), Friday, 21 July 2023 15:20 (ten months ago) link
Starbucks canāt be blamed for Ms. Cruz Borrazasā health crisis. Plenty of Starbucks workers are organizing under tremendous pressure without winding up in the hospital.
The fuck Starbucks can't. The woman who wasn't eating enough and spiraling in anxiety and depression because of Starbucks' actions wound up in the hospital.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 21 July 2023 19:04 (ten months ago) link
I assume that was some kind of CYA from the Times legal department but fuck that shit.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 21 July 2023 19:05 (ten months ago) link
Pretty great:
https://teamster.org/2023/07/weve-changed-the-game-teamsters-win-historic-ups-contract/
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 25 July 2023 17:15 (ten months ago) link
DANG.
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 25 July 2023 17:38 (ten months ago) link
Quite a coup for O'Brien, who hasn't been president all that long
― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 25 July 2023 17:45 (ten months ago) link
Sets him up well for his big quest: unionizing Amazon.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 25 July 2023 18:13 (ten months ago) link
The contrast between 1997 and 2023 in terms of pre-strike mobilization and preparation couldnāt have been more stark. Many major locals ā Chicago local 705 in particular ā were kept in the dark, and had no idea if thereād even be a strike until it was called. And while it wasnāt a Hoffa, Jr. -affiliated local, it was still very top-down, with the rank and file asking questions and not getting answers. A nearby Hoffa local, 710 in Rockford, actually scabbed on the ā97 strike (and one of my favorite memories of that summer is when my friends and I chased scab-driven UPS trucks around the quiet and tony North Shore suburbs, honking, shouting at them, and hilariously scaring the shit out of them).OāBrien is the first non-Hoffa president since Carey was ousted by the government in 1998 (on what turned out to be completely false charges), and obviously isnāt interested in getting cozy with UPS like Hoffa Jr was. That said, Iām cautiously optimistic about the new contract, and am curious what Teamsters for a Democratic Unionās position on it is.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 25 July 2023 19:14 (ten months ago) link
Per your first paragraph there's some particular detail about the past vs. now in this solid piece
https://prospect.org/labor/2023-07-25-teamsters-historic-contract-ups/
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 25 July 2023 20:14 (ten months ago) link
Damn. Glad to hear that about UPS.
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 25 July 2023 20:55 (ten months ago) link
Thanks for that, Ned. Great background on their strategies.
OāBrien didnāt face similar opposition today from hostile local officers. āWeāve taken different factions and coalitions, come together, under one vision, one voice,ā he said when asked about the role TDU has played in the contract campaign. āI think itās been effective, and it should be a template for the power of collaboration to effectuate change.ā
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 25 July 2023 21:10 (ten months ago) link
UPS came dangerously close to putting itself on strikevg wording
― serving bundt (sic), Wednesday, 26 July 2023 08:09 (ten months ago) link
Rather!
Good new piece here on the SAG/WGA front
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/the-system-is-quicksand-sag-and-wga-union-members-tell-all
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 26 July 2023 15:46 (ten months ago) link
Also, Wil Wheaton's IG post here is pretty sharp.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvFzWyCPiN8/?hl=en
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 26 July 2023 16:18 (ten months ago) link
Great post and he and spacemom are cuet.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Wednesday, 26 July 2023 16:41 (ten months ago) link
Good piece on the UPS tentative agreement here:https://www.tempestmag.org/2023/07/what-happened-to-the-big-ups-strike/
What would a historic victory have looked like? Well, among other demands, it would be ending two-tier wage structures between part-timers and full-timers, and installing air conditioning for all delivery vehicles now. The current TA, despite threats from OāBrien and Zuckerman to āpulverizeā UPS, has the feel of being underwhelming. But, underwhelming in an era of growing threats to the livelihood and health of UPS Teamsters are actually major concessions.Given the historic moment of low unemployment, record profits, and public sympathy for UPS workers, it feels like a moment has been missed for real historic victories.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 31 July 2023 20:14 (ten months ago) link
And Iām seeing on social media some locals organizing for a ānoā vote.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 31 July 2023 20:22 (ten months ago) link
https://deadline.com/2023/08/writers-strike-meeting-union-studios-no-new-talks-1235455349/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 7 August 2023 16:05 (ten months ago) link
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/steven-soderbergh-interview-command-z-christopher-nolan-hollywood-strike-streaming-1234799431/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 7 August 2023 16:52 (ten months ago) link
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna98755
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 11:17 (nine months ago) link
From nbc dot com
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 12:13 (nine months ago) link
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-08-10/wga-to-meet-with-amptp-friday-as-writers-strike-stretches-on
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 11 August 2023 14:39 (nine months ago) link
Skip ahead to about the 20 minute point
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tvs-top-5-podcast-chris-keyser-writers-strike-100-days-1235561162/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 14 August 2023 19:19 (nine months ago) link
UPS contract approved:
https://teamster.org/2023/08/teamsters-ratify-historic-ups-contract/
Meantime word out of Duke that their grad workers have organized, pretty cool:
Live from our watch party, we are thrilled to join a historic wave of organizing #UnionsForAll in higher ed, and so excited for Duke grad workers. Today, weāve formed the first recognized grad student union at a private university in the South, and 1 of the largest unions in NC! pic.twitter.com/ADWxqq9iPr— Duke Grad Union (@dukegradunion) August 22, 2023
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 22 August 2023 20:42 (nine months ago) link