A World Without Writers

I knew there was a writer's strike via NPR.
Since I don't watch television and go to mostly independent movies, it doesn't affect me much (same goes for music and coffee -- indies) but I do support unions in general.

I guess Hollywood is one industry we still have in this country.
What else do we make any more?!

& seems they tend to lean left politically, even Reagan back in the day.

One reason I so enjoy the DCP is the excellent writing at this site. The topics are discussed in a thoughtful manner and the personal experiences are recounted with clarity. I also appreciate that discussions here have for a very long time been mutually respectful and non confrontational (for the most part).

I see the writers strike as a larger issue upon which most Americans will have to make a choice: Will the technology and benefits of the twenty first century be shared by those who produce the goods, or will the rewards be delivered to the corporate owners and upper management?

As this century unfolds we can not even come close to imaging those new inventions and technologies that will change human kind's way of life. As those discoveries occur we have to ask ourselves, who is to benefit? One would hope that all would benefit, but who should benefit in terms of reaping the rewards for their discoveries and hard work? As we have seen, in the early parts and towards the end of the twentieth century, it was primarily the owners and managers who gained the most from the hard work of others.

For the writers strike to be successful, people have to accept the simple fact that those in power wouldn't be there if it wasn't for the hard work of "common man".

While the entertainment industry is controlled by multi national corporations, it is up to the American workers in this industry, and Americans as a whole, to stand together so that the workers labors are fairly rewarded. My concern is that we Americans do not have the stamina to endure in this struggle.

Americans have abandoned unions for the higher paycheck. Maybe we have learned a lesson..... I really don't think so.

Interesting that you brought up this topic, Casey, because just the other day my nonpolitical daughter and I were discussing it. Actually, we were discussing the writers strike and labor unions, as well as how our schools teach about labor unions and also how the government treats unions. It was actually a quite in depth conversation for us to have.

Where do I begin?

Originally, my daughter pointed out the same thing that you did in your piece above. But she had some additional comments about the writer's strike--things like:

* How much technology has changed since their last agreement

* How the writers haven't seen a pay increse despite the fact that their work is found in multi-media sources now-like the web or dvd's.

* How the writer's strike will affect everyone who makes a living in the movie and television industry.

* How restaurants and tourism will be affected as the writer's strike causes people to lose money straight down the line.

She had a huge amount of sympathy for everyone involved but she was 100% behind the writers' strike.

Other things we discussed where how unions are taught in school. (Very lightly.) We discussed how the reputation of unions protecting their lazy or incompetent employees have harmed the overall view of the importance of unions. And we discused how union workers in general are the ones who do the work--by hand or brain power--while a CEO or owner just rakes in the money by thinking of ways to get more work out of their workers.

And we discussed how the unions originated as a life-saving force in our country as well as a means of evening the gap between rich and poor, but we discussed the union breaking activities going on though corporations and people in our government.

So overall, this topic provided a step off point for many conversations that we normally wouldn't touch.

It's harder and harder for unions to make an impact, with globalization.
Transit workers just struck in Germany and are still on strike in France, with telecom and others joining, 5th day. Taxi drivers were striking when I was in Paris a month ago, making a 45 min. bus ride take 4 hours.

Here are the statistics on decline in union membership, and union demographics, from the government.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm
Corporations love the red/"right to work" states. Unions used to be the backbone of the Democratic party, less so now because of the declining numbers.

India has billionaires now yet the average person lives on less than $1000/year. Income disparities have grown steadily in this country with some unaffected by strikes, or even the falling dollar or stock market - they are that rich!

Every strike has implications as the exploitation of labor by management doesn't go away.

The unions in the US are doomed as long as there are right-to-work states, foreign investors (Toyota, especially) preferring them, and immigrants being brought in from notoriously anti-labor countries.

The common wisdom where I am is that unions are the tool of global communist movement.

NMP

I am not so sure if Hollywood even leans left anymore.

Sure, the high-profile actors do, but the actors who actually run for office all lean right.

Hollywood executives definitely lean right, contributing to the right-wing dominance of Southern California politics. After all, it's the same media companies that run the propaganda "news" machines.

I work in one of the few industries (construction) that still has healthy union representation, at least in my state.

I run a nonunion shop, but I am bound by Davis-Bacon prevailing wages, which are set by the government based on a survey of union workers' wages. So even though my guys are not union, they still benefit.

Going union, for me, will require much better management, especially at the HR level. Either I need to devote myself to HR duties (as opposed to engineering and supervision, which I also do), or I need to hire an HR manager. It's not going to happen at a mom-and-pop shop like mine, anytime soon. There is also the issue of my men, many of whom don't speak English well - they may fall behind the ranks once they are unionized (but English-proficient workers may not be as compliant to my father, who is himself not proficient).

The Davis-Bacon wages only apply to government jobs, however. Private sector jobs - illegals have crashed the wages to only a fraction of fair levels, and there is no way to compete by paying Davis-Bacon prevailing wages ($30+/hr) when everyone else pays below minimum wages ($8/hr in CA). There is a reason why I only do government jobs.

I have 3 degrees and no union representation.
My professional association has no teeth.
I make less because I'm in a female-dominated field
(support medicine)

Interesting, Casey. Worth thinking about. Our PM and opposition leader are campaigning on this very issue right now. Not writers strikes but the role of unions. Every time the PM's propaganda-advertising shows union thuggery, all I can think is how badly wages have deteriorated under his rule. He tells us every day, many times, how rich in dollar terms, Australia is. Well he and the rest of the 1% of top earners in the country do very nicely, I'm sure.

People are now working more hours for less money than ever before, and they are asking - if we're that wealthy how come schools and hospitals have become impoverished during his rule?

As a writer, I don't belong to a union although, as a teacher, I always did. I belong to three writer's associations - The Australian Society of Authors that lobbies governments for better deals in terms of all aspects of writing, The Australian Writers' Marketplace which is a great directory, and one that requires no annual subscription but collects and distributes copyright fees - the Copyright Agency Ltd - CAL.

Unions got us the 40 hour week. No unions since then have got us the 60 hour week for not many more dollars. No - that was done by the far right, the wealthiest of all. Over 10 years. The biggest tax cuts are granted to the biggest earners. No wonder the rich and powerful don't want to play fair. Unions ended child labour in some countries. Unions ended exploitation in many industries. Unions got us equal pay for equal work. Some unions like some business and corporations are slimy through and through. But on the whole, they keep the government accountable.

All 3 have been useful to me. The ASA continually fights for a better deal for writers and make regular submissions to governments. As well as the Public Lending Rights (PLR) which are paid by the federal government, there are also Educational Lending Rights also paid by the federal government. I'm always eager for the ELR deposit in my bank each year - especially now that all books are now out of print. PLR is a pittance. ELR keeps me alive.

Writers, like all artists do it because they love to do it. They need to do it. But when most of us are dirt poor, it's rather irritating to watch that richest 1% raking in the profits and distributing none of them.

If I were to strike though - no one would notice. But, in the American movie making industry it must be hurting. A lot.

Reading the comments, I see we're all on the same page. However, think about how the union's power and base has dwindled over the years. They have a terrible reputation. But also their own members have enabled the neoconservative's to win by voting for them on other issues.

Even though the upper heirarchy of labor unions usually support Democratic candidates, it's the people on the first level who have basically forgotten their own benefits and voted for conservative values ideology.

BTW... people blame the unions for being too greedy. And they tell 'us' we should be thankful to have a job, even if it pays only 3 bucks an hour. I'm wondering why those people who say that aren't practicing what they preach.