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Do the studios have a union-busting firm advising them on how to cause as much misery and chaos as possible in the wake of the WGA strike?
She made her walk of shame through the Writers Guild of America's picket lines for three days.
An aspiring writer, she is paid $33,000 a year as an assistant on the Warner Bros. Studios lot hoping one day she can join the guild. Her boss, a member of the union who went on strike last Monday, had asked her to continue working to maintain their office.
While siding with the writers and their grievances, the 29-year-old was relieved that her boss wanted her to stay on the job. With student loans not to mention rent hanging over her head, she desperately needs the money to pay a credit card debt that paid for her modest wedding.
But late last week, to punish the striking writers, the studio suspended her boss's six-figure "development deal."
No development deal, no job.
She and 20 other assistants--15 of them female--were let go that day.
[]
Thousands of other women whose names you will never know--meagerly paid assistants, secretaries, crew members and others working to support the big Hollywood players--are the first wave of collateral damage in the Writers Guild of America strike that began Nov. 5 against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
While the numbers of people recently fired is hard to ascertain, the strike has left these women--along with male colleagues who also remain obscure--out of work, out of health insurance and out of luck.
How many seven-figure executives will be told to go home without pay once their shows are no longer in production? My guess would be...where's my pencil, add the six, carry the one...zero.
There's absolutely no reason for companies with huge assets like the studios to break faith with people who have done nothing and engage in this highly selective, petty form of belt-tightening. It reminds one of a certain other temper tantrum-throwing, Scrooge-like executive threatening 150,000 families with unemployment right at the holiday season if he can't extort all the money he wants from Congress.
Let the War On Christmas begin, eh?
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zed?
dos?
Ah that holiday spirit….
Oooh! yea!
Be right back, gotta notify downstairs and read the post!
FunnyDiva
Here’s hoping those execs get scrooged themselves sooner rather than later.
Yo, Sumner, go scrooge yourself!
FunnyDiva
Funnydiva2002 @ 4
I thought it was “Go Cheney yourself Sumner!”
But I reckon Scrooge yourself might serve the same purpose.
dakine01 @ 5
Just tryin’ to stay with Jane’s holiday theme, here…with a little nod to Punaise…
FunnyDiva
Is this what’s called “Capitalism”? Lookit ceo’s who get huge golden parachutes before being shown the door of their huge money losing companies.
Obviously the solution to the secretary shortage is NAFTA and outsourcing.
It’s called GREED. And these people seem to have no shame that this is all that they are…
They always fire the secretaries and assistants, because they know it will break the hearts of the strikers. But it won’t break the strike.
Various fan groups, like the Criminal Minds fandom are starting to raise funds for the crews that will inevitably laid off. I expect other groups will be doing likewise.
Drumming up more bad karma for themselves…it’s a shame.
OT: If the Second Amendment is ruled by SCOTUS to mean that only militia can bear arms…does that leave the population ultimately at the mercy of Blackwater and their ilk, or is it a very narrow ruling about handguns in D.C…or is a Republican wedge issue…?
It’s Republican family values..DOD is going to lay off 100,000 people just before Christmas, so the psychopath can say Nah..Nahh to the Congress. It’s what a good christian would do.
Tonight is the first time I will run into a primetime show being forced into repeats (”Reaper”). Looking at my scheduled recordings for the rest of the week, everything is dropping away, either going into repeats or being replaced by game (er, reality) shows.
I wonder how the landscape of the strike is going to change now that the source of prime revenue in TV Land is going to start bleeding viewers?
And if you are injured in combat, you have to give back your incentive bonus, because you haven’t fulfilled your “contract”…These people are beyond vicious…I don’t think their is a word that adequately describes them.
“there”
The rich executives cannot function without their secretaries…most of them can barely dial the phone.
the following is off topic, on topic, importance of the highest regard;
THE ADMINISTRATION IS DELIBERATELY TRYING TO BREAK THE ARMY, they WANT to break the army
they want to have an excuse to use blackwater, to spend every iota of our assets, to spend our kids assets
they want to make us entirely privatized, they want no government anything
it’s the freidman doctrine, they want anacrchy, they want government for the profit of profiteers, they want no middle class, no government services, they want robber baron economics
they want to break our armed forces, this they’ve wanted from the very go
this is sick stuff and it’s exactly what they want
LS @ 14
“evil” comes to mind
Jane,
the studio retaliated against her boss for striking,by cancelling his development deal?
I’m not a labor lawyer (though I was on a labor law moot court board in Law school and continued ot be a labor law moot court judge for several years after), but his MIGHT be what is known in labor law as an “unfair labor practice.”
There are a bunch of retaliations that management is NOT allowed to engage in when there is a strike. It may be that a complaint to the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board)and it may even (though I don’t really know if this is elligable) be possible to obtain temprary injunctive releif preventing them from actually cancelling.
The boss in question may also have recourse in breach of contract and could include in his damages any payments he makes our of his own pocket to keep these emplyees on payroll. Didn’t Jon Stewart do something like that in a similar situation not too long ago?
Jane, is there a strike fund open for contributions?
you are gonna just love this
THAT is rich
perris @ 17
This kind of bullshit needs to be pumped by the blogoshpere. This should be a HUGE story.
Who doesn’t support the troops? Bushco that’s who.
What a greaat campaign commercial you could make out of that story–for any office at all.
Talk about betraying the troops!!
THE ADMINISTRATION IS DELIBERATELY TRYING TO BREAK THE ARMY, they WANT to break the army
they want to have an excuse to use blackwater, to spend every iota of our assets, to spend our kids assets
they want to make us entirely privatized, they want no government anything
it’s the freidman doctrine, they want anacrchy, they want government for the profit of profiteers, they want no middle class, no government services, they want robber baron economics
they want to break our armed forces, this they’ve wanted from the very go
this is sick stuff and it’s exactly what they want
posaune @ 20
beat me to it… just what i was going to ask.
Oh yeah. I was laid-off from WB five years ago.
I know the studio system well.
Now I’m temping. Mostly industry stuff. The last day I worked was the Friday they voted for the strike. Tensions were pretty high that day and I haven’t worked since.
I’ve been laid off several times. Working in development and production isn’t very secure. Once I was laid off when my boss didn’t want to kiss a** anymore. He was making 300k per year and that was 15 years ago.
But, hey, they gave me a free turkey once, about 25 years ago.
:)
perris @ 21
I guess Newsweek is a little less discerning when it comes to felons than Time huh?
looseheadprop @ 19
Those development deals aren’t under Writers Guild jurisdiction. Apart from the actual scripts the writer writes (which are covered under the Guild agreement insofar as a minimum that must be paid) the writer in those cases isn’t “labor” but an independent contractor, who’s being paid far above the Guild minimum to belong exclusively to that studio. When the studio decides the marriage is over(because the writer isn’t allowed to write under the WGA part of this), THEY can bail out of the deal claiming breach of contract. Unless you protect yourself specifically by writing a “suspend and extend” arrangement in case of a strike into your contract, you’re screwed. In this case, though, even if the writer suspended and extended, the studio would lay off his support staff because that’s the kind of lovely folks they are.
Bah, Humbug!!!
It is amazing, though, how well prepared Perino is to answer some questions. She knows the Federal requirements for furloughing people before Christmas better than her own job description.
dakine01 @ 25
I was so upset that Mother Jones ran a front cover with smirking Pasty Karl Rove and Barack Obama that I ended my subscription. I don’t want one dime of my money supporting Karl Rove.
LS @ 14
And they charge you for the body armor that was cut off to treat the injuries and for the equipment lost when you were evac’ed. Then they discharge you after they deny VA benefit because of “pre-existing” conditions..on and on..
Steve-AR @ 29
minor edit…
Steve-AR @ 29
They make veterans pay their own bus fare and they screw the injured out of benefits. Some contract Staph infections that are so bad, they are ejected - but not before they are intimidated into signing away their rights and benefits.
Remember the big media corporations of today are all run by Harvard MBAs –like our Great Leader Bush. They aren’t the old time movie studio moguls who wanted to build their company up over the long term, tell a good story and make people happy. Today the execs don’t care about anyone but themselves and they could be selling toilet paper or DVDs- same thing to them. Ruining good books, making bad TV that has no soul or positive message, and making gore and violence fests (or, “movies”) for 15 year old white boys in the burbs (Beowulf) that look just like their stupid video games is about all that crowd can “produce.”
looseheadprop @ 22
hey mods, looseheadprop missed a tag somewhere, could someone go back and edit the post so it reads they way she (he?) wanted it to read
They don’t even “pretend” any longer.
FOXNews Slips Picture Of Hillary Clinton Into Unrelated Anti-Immigration Story
C&L
perris @ 33
A hard-refresh will reveal the repaired comment.
Thanks Jane.
Selfish bastards. Hypocrisy abounds.
I fault the WGA. Why are those secretaries not organized as well? They are not Temps. They work an 8 hour day, they are not management, and they are no different from industries where the secretaries are teamsters. Hummmm come to think of it…..Hello, Mr. Hoffa……
Ok, the argument is, that they are working on a one-time project. But so are the writers. Few of them are actually studio employees, and the actors are certainly put together on a per picture basis. The WGA could make some political points if they showed up at the hosese of these people with at least Christmas dinners, or put them on their medical insurance funds. This is a small industry, but small is relative. The secretaries need to be organized, that’s what this strike has shown. If the WGA won’t do it, then the IBEW, AFTRA, IATSE, or any number of the other unions that work on jobs that supply that industry could. Wake up union members, there but for the grace of God go you.
November 20th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
looseheadprop at 22 says:
Just goes to show that these people are truly nuts. Who thinks up this stuff?!! How do they find people who think like this? Truly this is an upside down world!
Clear Channel Radio(Fasc*sts) reported, this AM, that a survey indicated that either Obama or Giuilani are the kind of guys you’d like to have dinner with. Hillary being a dinner guest dud.
Here we go again. Which candidate do you want to have a beer with?
OT does anyone see the connection between the “Bushes” and the Clintons. It’s becoming pretty obvious….and I for one am not voting for Hillary, and I just told off one of the DNC fund-raisers about why I wasn’t contributing
Leave it to BushCo to threaten peoples jobs to try and blackmail Congress into approving funds for our greatest war on terror evah.
Bastards have no sense of shame at all.
hackworth @ 39
how is it clear channel hires rhandi rhodes and tom hartman?
I could never figure that out, I know randi claims it’s because she makes them money but that doesn’t fly with me, I just don’t get it
Ann in AZ @ 38
It’s simple. THEY don’t support the troops!
OT..But I feel uneasy about the current SCOTUS looking at this issue:
High Court to Weigh Ban on Gun Ownership
link
Bustednuckles @ 41
the “war on terror” is like a “war on ground troops”, it’s like a ‘war on gorilla warfare”
“terror” is a strategy it’s not an enemy, our forefathers used terror and gave birth to this nation
there is not such thing as a “war on terror”, you can’t defeat a strategy you can only defeat the strategists
terror cannot be defeated just as “gorilla warfare” can’t be defeated, can’t be done
Ann in AZ @ 38
How many billion went missing in Iraq? These pr*cks always go after the little guy. Pallets of hundred dollar bills are sent to Iraq. Millions paid to General Musharrif in Pakistan for his cooperation in the GWOT. His cooperation entails little more than looking the other way.
perris,
hence the greatest war on terror,, EVAH.
/snark
sorry.
cynic @ 40
Please realize that the DNC is the national party trying to raise money to fund the fifty state strategy and replace R’s all over. They are NOT a subset of the DLC/DCCC and all the DC insiders. Don’t punish those who are attempting to fix things in a rage against those who like things to stay broken.
peanutbutter @ 30
This should right on the desks of Reid and Pelosi. But then, again, maybe it should land on Feingold’s desk if we want something done about it
hackworth @ 46
I believe the missing funds are something like 14 billion but I don’t have a link
perris @ 42
Clear Channel has made attempts to cancel progressive shows wherever they can get away with it. In some areas - like Central Florida - there never was any progressive programming. Its all right-wing all the time on every Orlando market fm station. Not just Clear Channel - all of them. With Orlando NPR affiliate sucking hind teat to be as war-mongering dumb *ss as the others.
perris @ 50
In the search for missing funds, be sure to examine the Bush family trust accounts.
Hell Hath No Snark Like a Writer Scorned
from Ezra Klein
As the strike stands, the studios are saying there will be no revenues from digital content. This never made sense, as if digital won’t have any revenues, than giving writers a percentage of those non-revenues won’t cost the studios a dime. But it’s not only a nonsensical position, it’s also a great, big, lie. Here, let the studios explain:
video here
Badwater @ 52
we need to freeze all assets that were aquired during the presidency, freeze cheney’s, bush’s, blackwater’s, haliburton’s and the oil cartel’s
freeze and federalize
return those assets from whence they were stolen
good post from a SAG member
cynic @ 49
“I”m in favour of body armour and Armour-
Swift meat products and byproducts. This is a great nation and we are all looking forward to Thanksgiving sitting down to eat our loved ones.”
Harry Reid
(well, okay, maybe not)
When Frank Lorenzo abused the bankruptcy code to break labor contracts at Eastern Airlines, Congress passed amendments to bankruptcy law (section 1113) to prevent future abuses.
Fast forward 20 years. US Airways wheels in a union-busting firm (much like Hillary’s former firm)
http://findarticles.com/p/arti....._n15657153
to abuse section 1113.
The tactics Jane describes (which always seem to happen under ‘pug administrations) is chapter and verse the bullshit we went thru.
peanutbutter @ 9
Isn’t greed one of the seven deadly sins?
Joe Klein’s conscience @ 58
Unfortunately not anymore.
Normal Corp.
jo6pac
hackworth @ 46
Untraceable money which nobody was accountable for, no less! It was at least $10B each for Iraq and Pakistan. That they would send a letter expecting to cash in on a moneyback guarantee for a soldier that was wounded is unconscionable.
Joe Klein’s conscience @ 58
For Christians it still is, however the folks in charge are better classified as christianists
Ann in AZ @ 61
That the MSM is in the tank with them is evidenced by the chirping of crickets we are hearing. Olbermann may tell it, but it will be a dead issue beyond Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
Ann in AZ @ 61
This feels like one of those deals where the Pentagon tried to slip one by, got snagged, and will blame it on a bureaucratic snafu if it gets traction… Duh.
removal of bullets & shrapnel: 334.67
dressing of wound: 226.90
hospital food: 377.88
air ambulance evacuation: 767.23
medicine: 661.28
prosthetic device: 2,447.84
inability to continue combat duties: 3,000.00 penalty (return of bonus required)==
do you want your purple heart with the 33.57 velvet lined carrying case?
dakine01 @ 62
My church pastor said that the ultimate goal of The Church (Christianity) is to convert the Middle East (and everyone else) to Christianity - not unlike the desires of Ann Coulter. The anti-womens rights, anti-birth-control and war-mongering in the name of Christ is regressive, oppressive and outrageous.
new fishy thread from Christy.
Yep, rot starts from the head….
newtonusr @ 64
As Murtha said today at his presser: why would you believe the Pentagon about anything? C’mon guys, it’s the Pentagon….
This thread resembles other threads. The Greedies did something so absurd one’s mind is boggled. Then there’s someone or other pulling a primary in some district which may or may not improve things. People get co-opted pretty quickly. We thought we won the 2006 election.
What we avoid is something all of us do to make an impact like not go to movies until the strike is settled. Even so small a step seems beyond us. For all the blogs and comments we are essentially disorganized, that is unable to take direct action. Yes, lots of money gets raised on the web. We contribute to Moveon and think we do something, and we do, but we must do more, something massive, something that makes the bastards sit up and take notice.
Is it supposed to matter that this is happening to women as well as men?
LS @ 11
Blackwater is not a “militia” as defined in the Constitution. Militias are regulated by Congress in terms of training and discipline. Miltias are can only be called up by the President only in the event of invasion or armed insurrections (although the Constitutionally dubious subsequent legislation dealing with the National Guards have expanded this). Militias are to be composed of adult citizens…not mercenaries. And they are to have their officers selected by the State Government.
Blackwater is more of a private army that would be the precise sort that the Constitution considered “insurrectionary” and unregulated. The only possible role for them would be in the issuing of “letters of marque” that authorized such paramilitary groups as foreign agents of the United States in foreign conflicts. But a group like this domestically would be considered “pirates” or insurrectionary.
Re: 2nd Amendment (guns) case to go to Court
Wouldn’t it be amazing if the ‘textualists’ on the Court decided that the only way you could own a gun was if you were going to be part of a militia? that would leave out hunters, people just defending themselves and gun collectors.
Or, they could say that the Constitution only says we can have a militia and essentially outlaw the standing army in favor of the National Guard.
With this crowd on the Court we really don’t know what kind of loony thing they might come up with.
Pride - I’m perfect just as I am.
Anger - You will do what I want.
Envy - I want what you have
Lust - You exist only to please me
Greed - What I want exceeds what I need.
Sloth - If I don’t want to do it, I don’t have to do it.
Gluttony - My wants are more important than your needs.
Seems to me that the Republicans have all bases covered.