Unions: good or bad? On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. The WGA is an association of two labor unions and represents more than eleven thousand writers who write for film, television, news, radio and online services. Strikes suck and nobody wants a strike and a strike is not good business for either an employer or an employee. A strike shuts down businesses — or at least curtails them — and strikes put the employee out of work for as long as the strike continues. So why do people strike if it only hurts themselves? Typically, a large business will have enough capital to keep it afloat until the end of a strike, but smaller industries might find it difficult to maintain their operations during an extended strike and in some cases are forced to close their doors. The strikers who walk off the job are, in essence, putting themselves out of work in hope of negotiating a better agreement, but there is a danger that, in the event of an extended strike, they go through their savings and put themselves in financial jeopardy.
Striking not only affects the workers calling for the strike, but also everyone else that might be put out of work due to a shutdown of business. In the case of the WGA strike, the collateral damage includes Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Because these shows employ writers, they are now in reruns with no new shows being created. Camera ops, grips, audio engineers and musicians are now out of work. The shows that present live music also have a live music audio staff that is now either going on tour or picking up freelance work. The hardest working band in America, The Roots, went on tour during their sojourn from Jimmy Fallon’s show, thereby keeping a limited audio and stage crew working. Unfortunately, not all the shows presenting live music have such an industrious or popular band to keep their live crew employed. Shows such as LIVE with Kelly and Mark and The View are not affected, as they do not employ WGA writers.
A Little History
Unions have had a long and contentious history in American politics and business and are definitely not without their fair share of scandal and corruption, but on the plus side and, with an intent to level the playing field between employers and employees, unions have protected workers in regard to higher wages, better work environments, child labor laws and regulated eight-hour workdays with paid overtime. As would be expected, employers looking to optimize profits are naturally often rankled by the demands of worker’s unions, but without the collective bargaining by union bosses on behalf of their members, better wages, benefits and workplace protection would be difficult, if not impossible, to negotiate. To complicate matters, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has also gone on strike with the WGA.
What exactly do these two unions want so badly that they are willing to possibly endure a long-term derailment to their livelihood and careers? The last time both unions went on strike together was in 1960, and the strike lasted 148 days. The WGA strike of 1988 lasted 153 days and, if it hasn’t be resolved by the time this issue is printed, the current strike will have been in effect for at least 152 days,* and likely to exceed the strike of 1988. The main complaint from the writers and actors is that they are losing revenue to AI and streaming at a time when the studios are making record profits from both. A cable series could keep a writer or actor employed for months or years, compared to streaming series that may only last a month with the residuals paid in pennies.
Protection — or Not?
Streaming has not been good for musicians or producers either, as anyone with content on Spotify can demonstrate by producing a current earning statement, but the music business is notorious for taking advantage of musicians, and while the musicians union is still active, it’s true strength is dealing with Broadway, film, television, studio recording and concert halls. There is very little protection for the road-weary musician in the same way that there’s no unionized standard for the touring engineers or engineers who do gigs for local and regional companies. IATSE protects stagehands and audio engineers at union-backed concert halls, but once you’re on the road or doing local one-offs, the rates become negotiable. For example, how often does one work an eight-hour day when doing a live show? How often does one receive the proper overtime for a day that exceeds the eight hours? How often does one work straight through with no meal break? How often do crew find themselves driving the truck home late at night after working a 12-to-16-hour day? How often does one find themselves bringing the gear to an event, setting it up, mixing the show and then striking and removing the gear for the drive home?
These infractions of basic labor rules and common sense are committed all the time. Not necessarily on major tours that play union halls and venues, but then again, not every tour is major. For the most part, when one is offered a non-union audio gig, workers are on their own regarding negotiating their terms. Granted, rates are market-dependent but, unlike stagehands working in a union venue, an engineer taking a one-off or tour is not necessarily guaranteed steady work, overtime or benefits.
On the Road, Again
Traveling is difficult and the hours are long. When doing non-union one-offs with well-known artists, I would always try to get at least a partial pay for travel days. It would often be a futile fight, but if I were to leave on a Friday to be ready for an early Saturday load-in and I didn’t come home until Sunday; that to me would be considered a three-day gig. If I got paid $700 for the event and $60/day per diem the total pay would come to $880 which, when divided by three, comes to about $293 a day. Divided by eight hours, that comes to about $36 per hour per day; divide by 12 hours, it’s a bit more than $24 per hour per day, and if I spend any of my per diem, it comes to less. If one were to punch in at work and stay punched in for 60 hours, the remuneration for the time spent would work out to about $14.50 an hour straight, with no overtime included for the duration of the time punched in. While it’s great to be a freelancer, there are times that a little union negotiation and regulation would be appreciated, I’m sure.
*The 2023 WGA Strike ended Sept. 27, 2023. It ended up lasting a total of 148 days. -ed
