Reluctantly Supporting WGA

For the last two months or so, I've been asking around as to WHY the producers and studios don't just turn their backs on the WGA and move on without them. Sure it will take a while to re-staff with talented NON-UNION writers and begin again, but it's a process and there are PLENTY of willing and hungry takers I'd bet. Well as the strike unfolded, I realized that this is exactly what they might have in mind, and I'm not happy about that.

It's been a long time since I've supported a union group against a corporation because generally their demands were inconsistent (substantially richer) with what most workers with comparable skills were getting and because many of the workers themselves had no idea what they were already getting, OR what they were demanding. I found this to be the case with UPS and also with Grocery Workers. I challenge anyone who thinks that the union has their back in these negotiations, ESPECIALLY when they think they have a WIN to take a visit to Detroit, Michigan and see their future.

So then WHY is the Writers Guild so different in my eyes? First, because they don't make more than the average with their skill starting out. Because Entertainment is primarily a speculative business, new writers make entry level wages, and there isn't the same type of SCALE that you have with everyone making the same thing based on years of service. Second, because there isn't steady work for many writers, having a union ties their individual jobs together into a career allowing them to have benefits and retirement plans, something that you have to gain tenure over years to obtain in a regular job. Last, when a grocery cashier leaves their job, the grocery store doesn't continue to benefit from their skill and when a UPS driver leaves, the packages they delivered don't continue to earn money for the company. The fact that studios and producers continue to earn money from the writer's product for years to come begs the question, why shouldn't the writer as well? My take is they should.

So in this rare instance when I support a unions position in a dispute such as this, I'd suggest this strike be settled by giving producers and studios the option to negotiate up front payouts to writers in exchange for future residuals (I only suggest this because the process of paying residuals is inefficient on its face, I've seen this first hand. The massive waste of processing $3.21 checks isn't my thing). It's isn't something that has to be decided up front, but instead based on the first run success of the program. So for example (using a comment I heard from a Lost writer) if first print DVD sales total one million and their cut would be $ .10 cents per DVD, then they can individually negotiate a $250,000 payout forever for that season (instead of the $100,000 that the $.10 would yield). Then they can save and/or invest as they see fit and take advantage of current value of the money and the studio and producers can save the administrative cost of tracking residuals. This is just a wild example and would become part of an already complex contract structure.

Hey, actors (represented by SAG or Screen Actors Guild) have to be present to work on a project and so do Directors (represented by DGA). I could say the same about television and radio talent (AFTRA), but writers are much more venerable because their work can probably be disbursed to Vancouver. One striker commented that this was a union busting move by the producers and studios and I couldn't agree more.