Writers Guild to Strike

The Writers Guild of America is set to strike:

The union's board of directors is set to formally ratify the strike plans at a 10 a.m. meeting today at the West Coast guild's headquarters in the Fairfax district.

Barring a last-minute deal, a strike would probably start Monday, people close to the guild said. That would mark the first time in nearly two decades that writers had walked off the job. The guild represents about 12,000 film and TV writers, of which roughly 7,000 work regularly.

In a boost to the power of the strike, the Teamsters will be supporting the WGA.

Being writers, they've amply documented the issues involved in this dispute, including with a blog, United Hollywood. So what are some of the issues?

Internet and new media: The writers want residuals for their content that gets used on the internet - all those full episodes of shows you can now watch on network websites, for instance - and coverage for original online-only content.

DVDs: Currently, writers get 4 cents for each DVD sold. They'd like 8 cents. Out of the $15-20 cost of a new DVD.

Huffington Post blogger Robert Elisberg tells us what to expect in media depictions of the strike:

3. Both sides will go to the press. Writers will point out that the studios make ungodly profits and screw everyone in sight. Studios will point out how many people will be laid off if writers strike against studios that make ungodly profits and screw everyone in sight.

5. The press will side with the studios. Three reasons. A) They don't have a clue who any of the writers are. B) Studio execs will actually call the press and talk about themselves. Writers won't call the press because they're pissed off at being ignored by them all the time. And C) No reason for the press to tick off an executive because, who knows, they might want to pitch one of their own screenplays to them later.

Jonathan Tasini puts the need for a strike in context:

For all those folks who aren’t writers and get a regular paycheck, it’s really important to understand the plantation-like economic model that powers—and enriches—Big Media. At any given time, 95 percent of WGA members aren’t being paid a salary by Big Media. Instead, thousands of writers churn out scripts and ideas for content—most of which is never bought. You might sell a script or an idea one year and, then, not sell another product for the next 5 or 7 years. It’s not because of a lack of talent. It is simply because Big Media has set up a brilliant system—it keeps a whole workforce turning out its products and doesn’t have to keep them on any payroll, or pay their health care or pensions if Big Media decides not to buy what they produce.

And, so, the way writers try to survive is over that stream—in most cases, quite modest stream—of royalties that come every time a DVD is sold which contains their creative output. Remember this: the vast majority of writers do not—do not—live in mansions or fly in private jets. They are mostly trying to live a middle-class life—and that isn’t easy.

By contrast, in a story we know too well, the CEOs of media companies are being paid rather well.

Hollywood writers are of course not the manufacturing workers of iconic strike images, but the thing is, you don't need to be an iconic manufacturing worker to be screwed by your employer - the American economy is increasingly built on that fact. So it's important for workers in all sectors to stand up for contracts that address actual working conditions: If studios make money on online content, so should writers. Our sacrifice will be along the lines of Daily Show reruns, but in whatever ways we can, we should stand with the WGA.

(h/t to hekebolos for the barrage of links)