[lbo-talk] Joss Whedon, union militant

Jerry Monaco monacojerry at gmail.com
Thu Dec 13 15:38:37 PST 2007


I hope there are a few people here who want to listen to news on the WGA strike so I thought I would post some more.

The following note is from Deadline Hollywood http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/amptps-pr-firm-justifies-its-existence/

" The liberal website Daily Kos is reporting that Fabiani & Lehane is starting to lose union clients because it accepted the AMPTP gig fighting the striking Hollywood writers. The site confirmed that _F&L was fired this morning by SEIU Local 99 in Los Angeles_ (made up of education workers who include teacher's aides, cafeteria workers and crossing guards) and this afternoon by Change to Win (a coalition of seven top unions including SEIU, Teamsters, and the Laborers). "Change to Win had a general consulting contract with Chris Lehane. That contract was terminated upon discovery of his role supporting the studios in the writers guild strike. As you know, Change to Win and its affiliates stand solidly behind the writers in their struggle for fairness, so we did not think twice about this decision," the organization told the Daily Kos. Meanwhile, I hear that the moguls are less than thrilled with F&L's performance for the AMPTP so far.

"Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane, whose Fabiani & Lehane like to call themselves the Masters Of Disaster, have fingerprints all over the AMPTP's strike PR. I've learned that F&L was responsible for naming the studios' and networks' offer to the WGA that "New Economic Partnership". __They also offered the suggestion that the CEOs stop calling the writers' side "negotiators" and start branding them "organizers" because it sounds more Commie.__ They wrote Friday's strongly worded and downright menacing press release to satusfy the moguls apparent craving for combat not conciliation. But, so far, that's it. An AMPTP insider insists F&L is only being paid a 1/3 what anyone thinks "but it's not necessarily money well spent." "

Deadline Hollywood is a good website to keep up with industry gossip for anyone who is interested.

There are several things to note from the above statement.

First, union solidarity.

The SEIU got rid of F&L without even debating the issue. I think this is a by-product of the fact that the current WGA-w leadership, and Verrone specifically, has put a lot of time into building union solidarity, and introducing Hollywood to service workers. Actually this I think is unique since the the early 1950s and the purge of Hollywood unions. For the first time in a long time a creative union has meaningful connections to other sectors of the workers movement.

Second, a union out PRs the "big 'boys'"

The AMPTP, as big Corporations, wanted a hip professional PR firm to represent them. This is the usual stuff, PR firms cranking out anti-union propaganda for those who hire them. But the poor Corporate moguls didn't get their money's worth. They have been complaining that they have been losing the PR war for the "hearts and minds" (that dreadful cliche) of their most organized fans. Thus a letter from the AMPTP Board of Directors complains about parody websites, and fan-supported picketing, and the fact that fans in a grass-root support of their favorite shows sent thousands of pencils to the studios.

(Deadline Hollywood quotes the letter here http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/amptp-hot-bothered-by-wga-needling/ )

The letter specifically complains about the "alternating mix of personal attacks and picket line frivolity". The picket-line frivolity they are talking about is when a few hundred Star Trek fans showed up to march with Star Trek writers like current Battlestar Galactica producer-show runner Ronald Moore.


>From what I gather, the studios are shocked that WGA-w is resorting to this
tactic of appealing to other unions and appealing to fans. They didn't expect it and they don't like it. They blame their PR firm for not countering it. And they call it "picket line frivolity" and they want it to stop. Well damn it all unions should have this kind of "frivolity" on their picket lines where a few hundred solidarity supporters show up at every picket line to call the bosses "fat cats" and "liars." The gall of bosses anywhere complaining that too many people are showing up for the union picket line. And not only that these "freaks", these Whedonesque groupies, these Trekkies, these Heroes fans, are actually having fun on the picket lines, and posting flckr pictures on weblogs, and some of them talking about unions for the first time! No wonder Viacom and Sony and the other "producers" who actually do none of the creating, no wonder they hate the frivolity.

They are saying the WGA-w is not "serious" in their tactics. What they are afraid of is a strike that actually gets a little support from people outside of the unions. (And yes, this is another reason why the left should be taking note of this strike. Out the west coast a very small union and an unpaid union leadership is trying to find ways through internet organizing, and propaganda pickets that are a little like theater, to get public support.)

Third, the WGA-w leadership is being red-baited.

It is very strange but the corporate bosses are talking as if Patric Verrone is John L. Lewis or Walter Reuther or Harry Bridges for christ-sake! It should be laughable, or a parody. (In fact it seems that one of the parody website has simply quoted AMPTP propaganda as if it were a parody.) But this is the way the corporate studio bosses are talking.

If for no other reason than this red-baiting the left should be taking note.

And they should be taking note of the issues they are being red-baited about, the so called non-economic issues, the "jurisdictional issues" and the no-strike clause.

This quote from the New York Times: "Accusing guild leaders of pursuing _"an ideological mission far removed from the interests of their members,"_ representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expressed outrage over continuing demands of the writers that were not strictly related to pay." And then in what seems like an editorial aside the NYT writes: "Only a death wish, for instance, would prod companies to let one union walk out in support of another, particularly on the eve of negotiations with both the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild, whose contracts expire in June." We are so far from the time when union solidarity was a given that even negotiating for elimination of a no-strike clause has provoked apoplexy among the studio bosses.

And what are the "jurisdictional issues"? WGA-w wants it in the contract that the producers will stop opposing at every step the organization of the unorganized writers in the genres that have been traditionally non-union, animation writers, and reality show writers among the most prominent. The producers have opposed organization on those shows all the way and the WGA is demanding that it stop. Recognition of negotiating units used to be part of strikes in the past, but apparently the WGA has revived a practice that bosses thought they had killed. (There are "jurisdictional" questions here with the regrettable IATSE leadership, but the producers are using this as an excuse.)

Thus the producers are trying to appeal to "the workers" as in the following statement: "we must not forget that this WGA strike is beginning to cause serious economic damage to many people in the entertainment business. While the WGA's world-class health care benefits remain secure, tens of thousands of below-the-line workers are seeing their health insurance jeopardized by the continuing strike. In addition, our entire Southern California community is beginning to feel the effects of the grinding shutdown of an industry that is the lifeblood of the region's economy."

Thus they complain: "we believe everyone impacted by this strike should know that negotiations have broken down over the WGA's jurisdictional demands -- demands which have everything to do with increasing the union organizers' clout, but very little to do with the real needs of working writers."

Note that "increasing the union organizers' clout". What has to be recognized here, is that the union leadership of the WGA does not get paid. None of the creative unions pay their leadership. The WGA leadership are all writers. Patric Verrone is a show runner and that is still what he spends his working time doing. It is not about increasing the clout of union leaders (though increasing the power of union organizers sounds great to me! Doesn't it to you Jim Straub?) it is about organizing the unorganized! Even if it is in this "non-central industry," that means something.

Jerry Monaco

I do go on. It is just that I was away from the country and then sicke for the first few weeks of this strike and when I came back I discovered that Trekkies and Whedonesque Browncoats on the West Coast have been organizing more strike solidarity than most of us have done for any strike in a long time. It's kind of amusing don't you think?

On Dec 13, 2007 4:11 PM, Mike Ballard <swillsqueal at yahoo.com.au> wrote:
> I think apart from any other issue, the WGA's insistence on eliminating
the
>
> no-strike clause, would give some importance to this little unions strike.
>
> Jerry
>
> *******************
> Very important point, Jerry.
>
> "An injury to one is an injury to all",
> Mike B)
>
>
> "Would you have freedom from wage-slavery.." Joe Hill
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