My union (The Writer's Guild of America) just won a huge victory. Once again, it was only due to the power of collective bargaining.
The short of it is that writers are repped by Talent agencies, who represent us in contract negotiations for 10% commission on what we're paid. But the agencies had massive conflicts of interests--including owning some of the production companies that paid us--that prevented them from honestly negotiating on our behalf. In essence, it was often more lucrative for the agencies to keep our wages lower.
So the WGA said they needed to eliminate ownership of prod companies and a practice called packaging (which was another huge conflict of interest.) The agents said no. So last year every writer in the WGA fired their agents until their agencies signed a new code of conduct agreeing our demands. Naturally, the agencies fought it. They would be leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table. But in the end, the WGA won, and every agency has signed on.
I know writers aren't stereotypical "union people." And there's a misperception that hollywood writers are all rolling in money. Trust me, we're not. It's a brutal business. But it was one more reminder how important it is that unions are strengthened and supported. People are small fish in a sea where corporations are given every advantage to abuse or crush us. Collective bargaining is often the only real weapon we can bring to the fight.
The short of it is that writers are repped by Talent agencies, who represent us in contract negotiations for 10% commission on what we're paid. But the agencies had massive conflicts of interests--including owning some of the production companies that paid us--that prevented them from honestly negotiating on our behalf. In essence, it was often more lucrative for the agencies to keep our wages lower.
So the WGA said they needed to eliminate ownership of prod companies and a practice called packaging (which was another huge conflict of interest.) The agents said no. So last year every writer in the WGA fired their agents until their agencies signed a new code of conduct agreeing our demands. Naturally, the agencies fought it. They would be leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table. But in the end, the WGA won, and every agency has signed on.
I know writers aren't stereotypical "union people." And there's a misperception that hollywood writers are all rolling in money. Trust me, we're not. It's a brutal business. But it was one more reminder how important it is that unions are strengthened and supported. People are small fish in a sea where corporations are given every advantage to abuse or crush us. Collective bargaining is often the only real weapon we can bring to the fight.
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