Writers Win Strike, Go Back to Work

For about 100 days, the Writers’ Guild of America refused to put pencil to paper to help create TV shows and films. Their beef with the studios centered on residual payments for DVDs and new media as well as some jurisdiction issues. The studios were certain that they could outlast the scribblers, but in the end, some smart politics and some unity brought the 10,500-member union a win. The WGA isn’t the UAW or the Teamsters, but it proved it was a union capable of winning one for its members.

The WGA did give up a few points. They agreed not to organize writers who work in animated series and in reality TV. The burgeoning reality TV segment made this a prime target for the union and Patric Verronev, leader of the WGA, West. The studios will now have an incentive to produce more of those programs, but negotiations require giving something to get something. Sometimes, it’s better to improve the conditions of one’s existing workers than it is to expand union membership. Only time will tell in this case.

Meanwhile, they did get a doubling of residuals for streaming video on the internet. This represents an income stream, albeit a small one, that will harm the studios very little while making writing a bit more lucrative. As for the internet, who knows? This journal isn’t rolling in dough by any stretch of the imagination, and maybe, the internet will be where TV shows and movies go to die. But if not, the WGA has secured recognition that writers deserve to be paid there, too. And an increase in regular pay helps, too.

The Directors Guild of America also gets a tip of the hat here. When they negotiated their deal during this strike, the studios deliberately wanted to undercut the support of the WGA. So they wanted a quick deal with the directors. The directors made sure their agreement dealt with many of the concerns of the writers. As one WGA wag put it, “It's the auteur theory of labor negotiations -- we do all the work and the DGA gets all the credit.” Maybe so, but they didn’t have to do it at all.

So, the Oscars are saved (the possible loss of which scared the bejesus out of the studios), the sitcoms will return in a month or so, and “24” will return some day in the fall. This strike wasn’t fun, and they never are. This time, though, a bunch of pencil pushing neurotics did what the railroad workers and steel workers used to do. It just goes to show that unions in America are in a lot of trouble when the banner is carried by guys who write for Hugh Laurie, Mel Gibson and Reese Witherspoon.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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