Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

iatse.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 81 posts

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#11

Post by thebigman433 »

m0zg wrote: post #6
nafix wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a great time to stage a strike if the corporate overlords are already under some level of duress. Also, what does being able to see the stage workers have anything to do with it?

They could just be laid off under the present circumstances. If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? Edit, since HN is throttling my response to the bigman433 below: I absolutely agree with you. Much like music industry, to paraphrase Hunter S Thompson, movie industry is "a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good…

If nobody can see people live, as you say, then surely the people making online streaming content are even more valuable right now.

One of the reasons this is all happening is because workers have continually been abused around streaming content. Studios are making more and more money while workers get shafted with ever worsening hours and pay. Studios are abusing definitions of work surrounding streaming shows/movies to drastically abuse hour and pay laws.

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#13

Post by slownews45 »

I'm not super pro-union (plenty of mess there) but there really are some reasonable asks union side.

My guess, folks have been NOT working the 12+ hour days, have NOT been doing the "rolling lunches" and other wild hollywood stuff (that a construction worker would think was crazy) during COVID. Might have opened their eyes to life outside of the hollywood dream machine.

Maybe look for things as basic as:

Mandated stop production 30 minute lunches. Mandated 10 hour turnarounds seem totally reasonable And bottom line, new media isn't new media anymore, it's big business so sorting that out also makes sense

I've never fully understood why hollywood can't always take a standard 30 minute lunch break. The job site across the street, lunch time, everyone puts down their stuff and eats and relaxes. And end of day, they are gone (unless it's a rush and paying overtime). (note this is my list - union's position may be different etc).

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#14

Post by tehjoker »

calcifer wrote: post #3

This is set to be even bigger than the 2007 WGA strike, which was ~12k people for 100 days. WGA had some precedent-setting wins with that, hopefully the same will happen with IATSE.

The WGA strike was really significant world historically. My recollection is that that strike created the impetus to do more reality television, which in turn created The Apprentice, which in turn gave us the 2016 election. America is a completely TV addled nation lmao

At the time, the only thing I noticed was one of my favorite actresses from House MD participated in the strike and that the quality of the writing declined shortly after it started.

That said, I completely support the strike! The workers need it badly and the stronger the strikes, the more control the workers will have. The more control they have, the less of a disaster America will be and leave less room for those kinds of consequences! My only criticism of the earlier strike is that it wasn't strong enough to include Reality TV in its coalition.

EDIT: Welp, I was wrong! Sorry about that.

EDIT2: Some people seem to think the show took off after the strike even though it started before:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/arianelange/writers-strike

http://revolutionaryoldidea.squarespace.com/roi-blogi/2020/1...

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#16

Post by petee »

m0zg wrote: post #6
nafix wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a great time to stage a strike if the corporate overlords are already under some level of duress. Also, what does being able to see the stage workers have anything to do with it?

They could just be laid off under the present circumstances. If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? Edit, since HN is throttling my response to the bigman433 below: I absolutely agree with you. Much like music industry, to paraphrase Hunter S Thompson, movie industry is "a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good…

Every job in film is highly specialized, even down to construction. These are trades that are taught and passed down through years of on the job experience. It would take them years to replace every department.

We do it well, fast, and safe.

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#17

Post by TheDudeMan »

slownews45 wrote: post #13

I'm not super pro-union (plenty of mess there) but there really are some reasonable asks union side. My guess, folks have been NOT working the 12+ hour days, have NOT been doing the "rolling lunches" and other wild hollywood stuff (that a construction worker would think was crazy) during COVID. Might have opened their eyes to life outside of the hollywood dream machine. Maybe look for things as basic as: Mandated sto…

Aren't there already laws that grant breaks during work? Does Hollywood not abide by those? Who polices that sort of thing? (Also not very pro-union.)

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#18

Post by petee »

junon wrote: post #9
m0zg wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could just be laid off under the present circumstances. If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? Edit, since HN is throttling my response to the bigman433 below: I absolutely agree with you. Much like music industry, to paraphrase Hunter S Thompson, movie industry is "a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good…

That would be suicide. Something like 90% of the workforce agreed on the strike. Imagine firing 60k people and having only a few thousand left. You'd sink immediately.

And backed by the Directors Guild, Actors Guild, Writers, and Teamsters, all of which would respect the picket line

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#19

Post by [deleted] »

TheDudeMan wrote: post #17
slownews45 wrote: post #13

I'm not super pro-union (plenty of mess there) but there really are some reasonable asks union side. My guess, folks have been NOT working the 12+ hour days, have NOT been doing the "rolling lunches" and other wild hollywood stuff (that a construction worker would think was crazy) during COVID. Might have opened their eyes to life outside of the hollywood dream machine. Maybe look for things as basic as: Mandated sto…

Aren't there already laws that grant breaks during work? Does Hollywood not abide by those? Who polices that sort of thing? (Also not very pro-union.)

[deleted]

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#20

Post by CrazedGeek »

tehjoker wrote: post #14
calcifer wrote: post #3

This is set to be even bigger than the 2007 WGA strike, which was ~12k people for 100 days. WGA had some precedent-setting wins with that, hopefully the same will happen with IATSE.

The WGA strike was really significant world historically. My recollection is that that strike created the impetus to do more reality television, which in turn created The Apprentice, which in turn gave us the 2016 election. America is a completely TV addled nation lmao At the time, the only thing I noticed was one of my favorite actresses from House MD participated in the strike and that the quality of the writing de…

The Apprentice actually started in 2004: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apprentice_(American_TV_se...
Post reply on HN