Rolling Labor Action Thread

New: Latino immigrant kitchen workers and a group of racially diverse women servers walked out at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Brentwood, Tennessee, on Saturday, January 14. They say their employer is serving up of a toxic brew of racism and sexism.https://t.co/adHmDEFDTA pic.twitter.com/zD8MozN7wl

— Labor Notes (@labornotes) January 24, 2023

https://www.thedailybeast.com/nbc-and-msnbc-staffers-walk-off-the-job-in-contract-dispute

On a happier note

🔥💯🤝 pic.twitter.com/xwSTduMt2F

— HarperCollins Union on strike since 11/10/22 (@hcpunion) February 10, 2023

After four days of voting, membership has RATIFIED the March 9th Tentative Agreement 344-8. This ratification landslide and the gains of our new Collective Bargaining Agreement are a historic achievement for our union.

(1/11)

— TUGSA (@TUGSA_6290) March 13, 2023

That is very inspiring.

Support some awesomeness

https://www.bandcampunited.org/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/bandcamp-union-1234695308/

If you’re not following what a joke-authoritarian-parody UCU has become, they combined “two questions” as one question in an e-ballot to ensure HQ achieved what they wanted — pausing the strikes /and/ giving members a vote on the “deal” (which isn’t a deal, it’s an insult). https://t.co/2gnDdZCJH0

— Philip Proudfoot (@PhilipProudfoot) March 17, 2023

Much controversy at present around UCU (UK university union).

A better summary:

To whoever is running @ucu twitter comms

Please, read the room. And stop with the happy-shiny.

Members are confused.
We are angry and feel let down.
The e-ballot question is shockingly bad.
This dispute has yet to deliver anything in writing.

Promises don't pay bills.

— Hannah Wilkinson (@DrHWilkinson) March 16, 2023

Somehow I missed this. The British passport office is going on strike for…. 5 weeks!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64981979

There are enough union Starbucks shops now to have a nationwide strike. Going to go out to a local one here and try to get some photos.

BREAKING: Workers at over 100+
Starbucks stores across the country are striking to demand an end to Starbucks' illegal union-busting campaign. While the company keeps a metaphorical 'empty chair' for us in the boardroom, we're demanding a real seat at the table! #StarbucksStrike

— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) March 22, 2023

new minor league baseball deal

Details on pay increases in the minor leagues:

Complex league: From $4,800 per year to $19,800
Low-A: $11,000 to $26,200
High-A: $11,000 to $27,300
AA: $13,800 to $30,250
AAA: $17,500 to $35,800

Players will be paid almost year-round, aside from a six-week break in the winter.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 30, 2023

great day for Bernie

that is a hell of a deal!

glad they got an increase but that's still not really livable wages, even with the teams providing housing and some slop

Bandcamp United have delivered their initial petition; you may sign up for a Public Campaign Call on Monday here:

bit.ly/bcu-update

Bah: https://bit.ly/bcu-update

In 2019, two major gold-industry giants in Nevada merged ops. Over the past year+, current & former workers have shared disturbing workplace issues, harassment & more w/ our reporters. This week, union workers secured a contract ✊https://t.co/0Wfuj0dkbg

— Paige Blankenbuehler (@PaigeBlank) March 31, 2023

Whaddup WGA

"AI can't write Tariq's raps!" Abbott Elementary writer/creator/actor @quintabrunson holds the line, alongside #AFM47 musicians outside Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank 5/5#WGAstrike #WGAstrong #dothewritething pic.twitter.com/gbcKQkAL6H

— AFM Local 47 (@AFMLocal47) May 8, 2023

https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-coral-reef-of-humanity-encircling

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/business/media/netflix-writers-strike.html

The Nolan piece was enlightening and changed my mind in some ways, but I still think that people whining that they’re not getting paid enough when the average WGA member salary is 100k is a bit ridiculous. I know that’s probably a minority opinion, but oh well

what percentage of WGA members are on a salary

You should put that opinion back in your pants table

That “average pay” statistic reminds me of how cities try to bust teachers unions with propaganda bullshit like, “THE AVERAGE TEACHER MAKES $75K/YEAR AND THEY GET SUMMERS OFF!” Right, and new teachers make shit, teachers work 12 hour days, pay out of pocket for classroom supplies, and are paying off six-figure student loan debt. And that’s not coming close to scratching the surface. I suspect the majority of writers don’t make $100k/year, but good for those who do. And those who do make that much, it’s from the residuals that studios are fighting against, which is one of the key reasons for the strike. Those making that much aren’t striking because they’re not getting paid enough (though relative to studio execs, they absolutely are not getting paid enough), but because younger writers and those just entering the field will never get paid that much, or anything close to it, if the execs get their way.

yep. solidarity’s supposed to be a good thing i thought

Don’t get me wrong— I support the strike, but as Nolan notes, absolutely loathe most of what is on television or streaming services. If it goes away makes no difference to me or my life, so my support is more tepid than it is for (let’s say) teachers unions, nurses, Starbucks workers, and etc. Just not as gung-ho about it as some people seem to be.

Fucking wild dude

I dont’t have kids or kids in school i dont care what happens to the teachers’ union.

See what a dipshit i sound like?

Teachers are important

Who can forget the famous rallying cry, “An injury to one doesn’t really affect me directly, so my support of the workers in this instance is tepid, and the outcome surely won’t have a cascading effect on other industries”?

Again, I support it. But I’m not going to be posting about it all over social media and donating to a strike fund, that’s all.

people whining that they’re not getting paid enough when the average WGA member salary is 100k is a bit ridiculous

wait until you hear what the average studio exec salary is

What is it like having a brain that smooth

Eh, I can take the abuse.

Excited to hear your views when the DGA and SAG contracts are up at the end of next month

teachers unions, nurses, Starbucks workers

I am distracted thinking this is a quote from Idiocracy

It is, in a way

_ teachers unions, nurses, Starbucks workers_

I am distracted thinking this is a quote from Idiocracy

it's not about you, sorry

I don’t like Starbucks coffee and I don’t think Starbucks is important so I don’t care if people who work there get exploited

So, by saying that I tepidly supported a strike because I have major issues with what the industry produces— what I perceive to be propaganda and pap to control people— I deserve scorn and insult.

I did a bunch of reading after unbookmarking this thread last night. I support the strike much more fully now, despite still feeling the way I do about what it produces. Yes, I realize I was missing some nuances and forgetting the ability to hold two somewhat contradictory beliefs at the same time.

Sorry for lashing out at you, felicity.

You didn’t initially say that, it was this point that people took issue with

I still think that people whining that they’re not getting paid enough when the average WGA member salary is 100k is a bit ridiculous. I know that’s probably a minority opinion, but oh well

I didn’t!

As noted in the depression 77 thread, I have been in an unstable financial situation for years now, and sometimes my class antagonism— reading that 100k figure, for example— brings out the worst in me and sort of blinkers me to the reality that most WGA writers aren’t making much.

Thank you, table.

I think other people have covered what's objectionable about the "some animals are more equal than others" angle in a labor action support thread more directly, but I see you take the point.

If you've seen Idiocracy you might understand that the inclusion of Starbucks in that phrase was kind of funny as a hierarchy. I don't love being personally attacked for that, but I would defend your right to say whatever you want.

As for $100k average salary, I don't know if you realize just how expensive it is to live in LA or what the low end of the salaries are, but the fact that the entertainment production industry is competitive yet unionized basically top to bottom is kind of miraculous. The question seems to be why aren't more industries able to organize and achieve such relatively high average salaries making it possible for everyone to live relatively comfortably? We know the money is there, just pooling at the top.

Hi felicity, I had to leave California because I couldn’t survive there, even making close to the most I’ve ever made in my life, which was about half of 100k. I do realize how expensive it is, but seeing as how I literally lived in a truck for several years while being assistant manager of a luxury retailer, I still think that 100k is a decent amount of money, California or no. I would be absolutely slaphappy to make anything close to that, which I don’t foresee ever happening in my lifetime.

I think that your question about unionization of Hollywood and how it can serve as a model for other industries is the most salient part of the WGA strike for me. I wonder whether Davis covers any of this in Prisoners of the American Dream, a book I’ve read but not in a few years.

This podcast is goes a bit into the ins and outs of things. The latest episode has ER creator John Wells as a guest.

https://deadline.com/2023/05/deadline-strike-talk-podcast-week-2-billy-ray-todd-garner-john-wells-1235364794/amp/

"Don’t get me wrong— I support the strike, but as Nolan notes, absolutely loathe most of what is on television or streaming services."

The longer the strike goes on surely the less will be produced. Even from that pov it's a good idea to support the strike if you hate TV.

I have a lot of thoughts about all of this, but the reason I’m tracking this story (more than a lot of other stories) is because it’s one of the more *public* and visible tests of whether AI will replace people.

(Obviously this has been a thing on various levels for a while but the notion of television written by algorithms might leap out a bit more.)

I asked one of the striking WGA writers at an event what the biggest sticking points were. She mentioned the studios were refusing to guarantee that they wouldn't use AI to write any parts of scripts in the future.

If that's true, it seems incredibly contemptuous of audiences as well as writers. The studios want the prestige of Guild artistry but want to cut corners on one of the most cherished parts of the craft. (No one's stopping them from posting on YouTube.)