another reminder of how the criminalization of homelessness is used as a weapon of class warfare. this isn't just "oh, you might have to move to a smaller/cheaper house". lots of landlords won't...
“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive told Deadline.
another reminder of how the criminalization of homelessness is used as a weapon of class warfare.
this isn't just "oh, you might have to move to a smaller/cheaper house". lots of landlords won't rent to you without verification of income, which these striking workers won't have. (or, if they have income from unrelated jobs like waiting tables, it's unlikely to be enough to afford Los Angeles rent)
they're threatening the workers with homelessness, with eviction by armed sheriff's deputies. threatening them with relegation to what we generally treat as the lowest and most undesirable class in society, unhoused people.
implicit in this statement is that as the strike drags on, the studio executives and management will not be at risk of losing their houses. they have sufficient accumulated wealth, and other sources of income, that they believe they'll be able to wait out the workers.
the strategy that management is relying on to end the strike shows why the strike is necessary in the first place.
nothing...but as I said in the part of my comment immediately after the part you quoted, they're likely to be lower-paying jobs that may not be enough to pay Los Angeles rent (where median rent...
What is preventing these workers from getting other jobs while their union is negotiating?
nothing...but as I said in the part of my comment immediately after the part you quoted, they're likely to be lower-paying jobs that may not be enough to pay Los Angeles rent (where median rent for a 1 bedroom is $2200/mo according to Zillow)
put yourself in the shoes of someone conducting job interviews in LA right now. you get a resume for an applicant who's had a career in the writing industry and is now looking for other work. the obvious question you're going to ask is, "are you just doing this job for a couple months, and are going to quit and go back to writing as soon as the strike is over?"
that is inherently going to limit what other jobs the workers will be able to find. it'll be biased towards jobs that already handle high employee turnover - retail, food service, construction, etc. those tend to be lower-paying jobs than "career" type jobs where the expectation is the employee will stick around for longer than a few months.
Yes, their temporary job will be more limited and will involve service-industry or seasonal jobs. Plenty of places will hire knowing that the worker will be temporary, but you're right that those...
Yes, their temporary job will be more limited and will involve service-industry or seasonal jobs. Plenty of places will hire knowing that the worker will be temporary, but you're right that those jobs are not as high-paying as their current jobs. Nevertheless, it will help extend how much runway they'll have until they're no longer able to keep up with their bills.
They can, but what if they can't secure a job that pays enough to afford their current rent, mortgage, whatever. I don't know if Hollywood writers are allowed to freelance in other sectors on the...
They can, but what if they can't secure a job that pays enough to afford their current rent, mortgage, whatever.
I don't know if Hollywood writers are allowed to freelance in other sectors on the side, but I'm guessing most of them will be doing low-paying oddjobs.
This is the unfortunate reality that everyone faces today. Nobody's job is guaranteed. Being in a union might mean improved job stability, but it still doesn't mean a guaranteed job if there is no...
They can, but what if they can't secure a job that pays enough to afford their current rent, mortgage, whatever.
This is the unfortunate reality that everyone faces today. Nobody's job is guaranteed. Being in a union might mean improved job stability, but it still doesn't mean a guaranteed job if there is no contract.
I don't know if Hollywood writers are allowed to freelance in other sectors on the side
That's a good question. Not sure what would prevent them from doing this, if they're not currently contracted to do work. I could see where this might not fly if they're actually employed, but in this case, they're not. Lots of unionized tradespeople do their own work on the side as well, for example.
Might I suggest Dropout.tv as an alternative? I find them to be more ethical than most streaming services, but it's a very particular sort of content. Sam Reich is the CEO, and he seems like a...
Might I suggest Dropout.tv as an alternative? I find them to be more ethical than most streaming services, but it's a very particular sort of content.
Sam Reich is the CEO, and he seems like a pretty stand up guy. He is the son of Robert Reich, a notable advocate for regulation and general critic of capitalism. Sam is explicitly supportive of the writers, though it is important to point out that writers for game shows or reality shows are not part of SAG-AFTRA; some people have opined that Sam is employing scabs, but that's just not the case.
Important Edit: I am conflating the WAG and SAG-AFTRA strikes here. While what I said above is true - writers aren't part of SAG-AFTRA - it's also kind of nonsense. It's like saying bicycles aren't part of bacon; they're just unrelated things. The WAG strike doesn't effect the writers for Dropout, because the writers for Dropout are writing on improv / reality tv / gameshows and those are not covered by the WAG strike. The actors for Dropout are probably covered by SAG-AFTRA, and this will effect Dropout. However, given Sam's explicit support for actors and writers, it is likely that SAG-AFTRA could reach an Interim Agreement with Dropout and I would expect Sam to do his best here to come up with a fair interim agreement. This is in line with the original question about the WAG strike, I just introduced another issue. /end edit
The content is really good if you like sketch comedy or DnD. Gamechanger is amazing, and it has several offshoots that are solid - Make Some Noise, Play It By Ear, Dirty Laundry - and Um, Actually, and Breaking News are both super enjoyable. Dimension 20 is great if you like DnD content; if you've enjoyed any of Critical Role, I actually like D20 better. And there are a whole bunch of classic College Humor bits.
Interesting addendum to this: Adam Conover has been one of the many notable voices of the strike. You may know him from Adam Ruins Everything and from his time at College Humor, the predecessor to...
Interesting addendum to this: Adam Conover has been one of the many notable voices of the strike. You may know him from Adam Ruins Everything and from his time at College Humor, the predecessor to Dropout.
If you're interested in what he's up to, he hosts a really good podcast where he talks with experts about a variety of topics. He takes relevant moments to link his most recent topics to the writer's strike and the role wealthy elites have been playing to drain money from the middle class.
another reminder of how the criminalization of homelessness is used as a weapon of class warfare.
this isn't just "oh, you might have to move to a smaller/cheaper house". lots of landlords won't rent to you without verification of income, which these striking workers won't have. (or, if they have income from unrelated jobs like waiting tables, it's unlikely to be enough to afford Los Angeles rent)
they're threatening the workers with homelessness, with eviction by armed sheriff's deputies. threatening them with relegation to what we generally treat as the lowest and most undesirable class in society, unhoused people.
(another example of this pattern: Starbucks threatened that unionization might cause transgender employees to lose health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care)
implicit in this statement is that as the strike drags on, the studio executives and management will not be at risk of losing their houses. they have sufficient accumulated wealth, and other sources of income, that they believe they'll be able to wait out the workers.
the strategy that management is relying on to end the strike shows why the strike is necessary in the first place.
What is preventing these workers from getting other jobs while their union is negotiating?
nothing...but as I said in the part of my comment immediately after the part you quoted, they're likely to be lower-paying jobs that may not be enough to pay Los Angeles rent (where median rent for a 1 bedroom is $2200/mo according to Zillow)
put yourself in the shoes of someone conducting job interviews in LA right now. you get a resume for an applicant who's had a career in the writing industry and is now looking for other work. the obvious question you're going to ask is, "are you just doing this job for a couple months, and are going to quit and go back to writing as soon as the strike is over?"
that is inherently going to limit what other jobs the workers will be able to find. it'll be biased towards jobs that already handle high employee turnover - retail, food service, construction, etc. those tend to be lower-paying jobs than "career" type jobs where the expectation is the employee will stick around for longer than a few months.
Yes, their temporary job will be more limited and will involve service-industry or seasonal jobs. Plenty of places will hire knowing that the worker will be temporary, but you're right that those jobs are not as high-paying as their current jobs. Nevertheless, it will help extend how much runway they'll have until they're no longer able to keep up with their bills.
They can, but what if they can't secure a job that pays enough to afford their current rent, mortgage, whatever.
I don't know if Hollywood writers are allowed to freelance in other sectors on the side, but I'm guessing most of them will be doing low-paying oddjobs.
This is the unfortunate reality that everyone faces today. Nobody's job is guaranteed. Being in a union might mean improved job stability, but it still doesn't mean a guaranteed job if there is no contract.
That's a good question. Not sure what would prevent them from doing this, if they're not currently contracted to do work. I could see where this might not fly if they're actually employed, but in this case, they're not. Lots of unionized tradespeople do their own work on the side as well, for example.
Thanks, this was the push I needed to cancel my last streaming TV account.
Might I suggest Dropout.tv as an alternative? I find them to be more ethical than most streaming services, but it's a very particular sort of content.
Sam Reich is the CEO, and he seems like a pretty stand up guy. He is the son of Robert Reich, a notable advocate for regulation and general critic of capitalism. Sam is explicitly supportive of the writers, though it is important to point out that writers for game shows or reality shows are not part of SAG-AFTRA; some people have opined that Sam is employing scabs, but that's just not the case.
Important Edit: I am conflating the WAG and SAG-AFTRA strikes here. While what I said above is true - writers aren't part of SAG-AFTRA - it's also kind of nonsense. It's like saying bicycles aren't part of bacon; they're just unrelated things. The WAG strike doesn't effect the writers for Dropout, because the writers for Dropout are writing on improv / reality tv / gameshows and those are not covered by the WAG strike. The actors for Dropout are probably covered by SAG-AFTRA, and this will effect Dropout. However, given Sam's explicit support for actors and writers, it is likely that SAG-AFTRA could reach an Interim Agreement with Dropout and I would expect Sam to do his best here to come up with a fair interim agreement. This is in line with the original question about the WAG strike, I just introduced another issue. /end edit
The content is really good if you like sketch comedy or DnD. Gamechanger is amazing, and it has several offshoots that are solid - Make Some Noise, Play It By Ear, Dirty Laundry - and Um, Actually, and Breaking News are both super enjoyable. Dimension 20 is great if you like DnD content; if you've enjoyed any of Critical Role, I actually like D20 better. And there are a whole bunch of classic College Humor bits.
Interesting addendum to this: Adam Conover has been one of the many notable voices of the strike. You may know him from Adam Ruins Everything and from his time at College Humor, the predecessor to Dropout.
If you're interested in what he's up to, he hosts a really good podcast where he talks with experts about a variety of topics. He takes relevant moments to link his most recent topics to the writer's strike and the role wealthy elites have been playing to drain money from the middle class.
Here's one of the more relevant podcasts where he talks about the writers strike:
Why Writers Are On Strike | FACTUALLY
Adam has been doing some great work as he's pushed into the YouTube scene!
Yeah, that tracks.
Joke of an industry. Here’s to the workers not backing down to scare tactics 🍻.