Another Production Company Breaks Ranks and Reaches Pact with Writers

by Mike Hall, Jan 11, 2008

There are two new developments on the writers’ strike front.

A second large independent movie company has broken ranks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and reached an agreement with the Writers Guild of America. Also, the faculty at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) has severely criticized one of its members for crossing the writers’ picket lines to appear on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

The New York Times reports this morning that the Weinstein Co., one of Hollywood’s largest independent film companies, reached an agreement similar to the one between United Artists and the writers earlier this week.

Harvey Weinstein, company co-founder, told the newspaper that the AMPTP reacted “negatively” to his decision to come to an agreement with the writers but, “We need to get people back to work.”

The writers have been on strike since Nov. 5, fighting for a new contract that includes a fair share of revenues from Internet and electronic distribution of material they’ve written. AMPTP walked out of contract talks with the unions in December.

In addition to the two deals with the movie companies, the writers earlier signed an agreement with David Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants, which produces Letterman’s “Late Show” and “The Late Late Show” with Craig Ferguson. The agreement enables the two shows to go back on the air with its writing staff and no picket line for guests to cross.

But the other talk and comedy shows have returned to the air without agreements and still face picket lines. Cornell ILR professor Ron Seeber crossed the picket line on Jan. 7 to appear on “The Daily Show.” That action has drawn the outrage of his colleagues. (Also, click here to read Martin Bosworth’s reaction in Scholars & Rogues to “gonzo” journalist and political writer Matt Taibbi’s appearance on “The Colbert Report” and here for Jesse Wendel’s take on The Group News blog.)

A letter to both Writers Guilds, signed by 16 faculty members and Gene Carroll, director of the ILR’s Union Leadership Program, calls Seeber’s actions “extremely disappointing.’ The full text is below.

To the Officers and Members of the Writers Guild, East and the Writers Guild, West,We want to communicate to you the sincere distress we felt on Monday when a member of our university community, Ron Seeber, chose to appear as a guest on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” Members of our Extension labor faculty spent most of Monday in conversations with Professor Seeber urging him not to appear, and fielding calls from our labor clients and partners. We were also facilitating conversations between Professor Seeber and a number of labor leaders in New York, two of whom, Bruce Raynor (UNITE HERE) and Denis M. Hughes (NYS AFL-CIO), are members of Cornell’s Board of Trustees, and who were also unable to influence his decision.We value our long standing relationships with the Guilds and with all the members of the labor community. We clearly understand the negative impact of crossing a picket line and providing content for the show when the withholding of that content is what gives the union its leverage. It was extremely disappointing that we were not able to convince Professor Seeber not to appear.

Cornell is an institution that values academic freedom, and Professor Seeber was exercising his when he chose to appear on “The Daily Show.” We are now exercising ours to convey our deep regret that a prominent representative of our institution crossed your picket line, and to dissociate ourselves from this action.

Yours truly and in deepest solidarity,

Members of the Cornell ILR Extension Labor Faculty:

Lee H. Adler; Sally M. Alvarez; Kate Bronfenbrenner, Resident Faculty; Gene Carroll; Maria C. Figueroa; Jeff Grabelsky; Lois S. Gray; Fred Kotler; Jill Kubit; Peter Lazes; Ken Margolies; Francine Moccio; Sean Sweeney; KC Wagner; Art Wheaton; Pam Whitefield

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