Don’t Miss Live Webcast of AFL-CIO Future of Work Forum
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Tune in TODAY from 3-5 p.m. EDT, for a live webcast of the special AFL-CIO forum on The Future of Work and New Ways to Build Power. You can click here for the webcast and follow on twitter with the hashtag #thefutureofwork.
The forum will feature AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Boston University professor David Weil and leaders from unions who are developing new organizing strategies:
- Bill Cruice of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP);
- Bhairavi Desai of the National Taxi Workers Alliance (NTWA);
- Justin Molito of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE); and
- Ai-jen Poo of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA).
The new National Taxi Workers Alliance will receive its AFL-CIO charter.
Workers Make the ‘Write’ Choice Again: Choose WGAE Twice in One Week
Employees who write and produce nonfiction TV shows, including “Monsters Inside Me,” “Samantha Brown’s Great Weekends” and “Worst Cooks in America” for the production company Optomen Television, voted to be represented by the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE).
This is the second time this week workers chose WGAE. The comedy writers at the Onion News Network (ONN) chose the union on Monday. Employees at three other nonfiction TV production companies also voted recently for WGAE representation. First contract negotiations at two of the companies, Atlas Media and Lion Television, are set to begin Aug. 4 and Aug. 8, respectively.
WGAE President Michael Winship says:
We are excited that the talented people of Optomen have voted to join the Writers Guild, East. Theirs is the latest in a series of Guild election victories in the realm of non-fiction television. We look forward to working with them and to continue reaching out to the many creative men and women of non-fiction production.
The National Labor Relations Board election at Optomen took place in December 2010 but a final vote count was hung up in procedural delays.
Onion News Network Writers Join WGAE
The comedy writers at the Onion News Network (ONN), who have brought us such stories as “Social Security Reform Bill Encourages Americans to Live Faster, Die Younger,” and “Man Becomes GOP Front Runner After Showing No Interest in Government,” have joined the Writers Guild of America, East (WAGE).
WGAE members from several New York-based comedy shows lined up in support of the ONN writers who now have negotiated their first-ever bargaining agreement. WGAE Executive Director Lowell Peterson says “the ONN writers stood together and won real improvements.”
The agreement will increase minimum weekly compensation and provide pension and health contributions, retroactive to the start of writing earlier this summer. The producers also agreed to add writers and writing weeks.
The ONN’s second season begins on Sept. 30 on the Independent Film Channel. In the meantime click here for a look at ONN’s fake news that sometimes is crazier than a Fox, but makes a lot more sense.
Lion TV Recognizes WGAE
Lion Television has agreed to recognize its employees’ choice of the Writers Guild of America, East, (WGAE) as its bargaining representative.
The nearly 100 Lion producers, associate producers, researchers and writers, who work on such shows as “Cash Cab” for Discovery Network, “Megadrive” for MTV and “History Detectives” and “America Revealed” for PBS, voted in December for WGAE. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certified the results this week.
WGAE Executive Director Lowell Peterson says:
We welcome the Lion employees into our creative community, where they will join thousands of other members who do some of the best work in television, film, radio, and digital. We are pleased that Lion respects their decision to become part of the Writers Guild and we look forward to a long and productive relationship.
WGAE also recently won the majority of votes in two other NLRB elections at Atlas Media Corp. and ITV Studios.
Soap Cancellations Wash Out Thousands of Jobs
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The cancellation of the ABC soap operas “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” will not only deprive millions of viewers of their favorite shows, it will deprive thousands of union members—actors, crew members, writers and production staff—in Los Angeles and New York of a regular paycheck.
In a statement, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) said the cancellations are “a devastating loss for thousands of AFTRA members.”
The AFTRA actors of these two ground-breaking serial dramas have entertained generations of viewers around the globe for more than 40 years with stellar performances and dedication to their craft.
AFTRA notes that serial dramas, once a prolific source of employment and benefits for television actors, have been challenged by the new economics of television, stating:
Learn Online Organizing Strategies at Organizing 2.0 Conference, Feb. 13
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This is a guest blog from Charles Lenchner and Elana Levin, co-founders of Organizing 2.0. Levin also serves as director of communications for the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE).
Organizing 2.0 is an annual training conference in New York City for union movement organizers and social justice activists. It’s set for Feb. 13 at the City University of New York (CUNY) Murphy Institute. One of our colleagues in the labor movement asked us to explain in writing who exactly our training conference was aimed at and why they should attend it. Here it is:
- Do you work for an organization that does not use online tools except for some e-mail and a low-quality website? Join us for a hands-on training on relevant software, case studies on organizations in your situation and suggestions for best next steps that even under-resourced groups can realistically take.
- Do you work for an organization that pays for and uses online tools—just not very well? How can you make good use of what you are already paying for? Learn how to move from having an online presence, to using it effectively to achieve mission goals.
- Do you work for an organization that uses online tools quite well—but only in specific pockets of your work? We’re bringing together experienced union and organizing professionals figuring out (together) what works best to win campaigns, serve members and drive up individual engagement. Join us to learn—and to share your own knowledge.
Now for another question. Why are we doing this?
Writers Guild to Honor Gilroy, Pryor and Television Archives
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Frank Gilroy has gained success as a writer in television, film, theater and print. He wrote for almost every show in TV’s so-called Golden Age, including “Playhouse 90,” “Omnibus” and “Studio One.”
His plays include the Pulitzer Prize-winner “The Subject Was Roses” and the award-winning “Who’ll Save The Plowboy?” An independent moviemaker, he wrote and directed “Desperate Characters,” which won a prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
Now his colleagues in the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) will honor him with the union’s Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Writing. WGAE President Michael Winship praised Gilroy, saying:
Frank Gilroy’s stunning body of work, with its sure and poignant grasp of the human condition, would alone make him a worthy recipient. But in addition he has been a visionary and pioneer, forging a path for all the independent filmmakers and storytellers who have followed him.
Established in 1992 in memory of the late Ian McLellan Hunter, the award is presented to a WGAE member for his or her lifetime body of work as a writer in motion pictures or television. The Hunter award is one of the three top WGAE awards that will be presented at the 63rd annual Writers Guild Awards, Feb. 5 in New York City. For more information, call 212-767-7812 or visit the WGAE website here.
Lion Television Writers, Producers Join Writers Guild, East
Some 100 writers, producers, associate producers and researchers at Lion Television voted this week to join the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE). This is the third victory for WGAE in its recently launched effort to help workers in nonfiction TV programming form a union. These new union members produce shows such as “Cash Cab” for Discovery Network, “Megadrive” for MTV and “History Detectives” and “America Revealed” for PBS.
The workers voted for WGAE despite a long, aggressive anti-union campaign by the company. Employees said they wanted to become union members to gain benefits like health care, pension, improved compensation and reasonable working hours.
Freelancers Gain Union Recognition with WGAE
The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) has brought union representation to a growing group of workers who do not fit the traditional union model: freelance writers and producers who work on nonfiction TV shows.
WGAE won two tough National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) elections covering 150 workers at ITV Studios and Atlas Media, companies that contract workers for such popular nonfiction TV shows as “Dr. G: Medical Examiner” and “The First 48.” Another election is set for workers who help create “Cash Cab” and PBS’s “History Detectives.”
Helping freelance workers join a union is becoming increasingly important in today’s economy. More than 25 percent of all workers are in temporary jobs and the number of temporary workers is going up. Freelancers want the same as do other workers: fair pay, good benefits and respectful treatment on the job, says Justin Molito, WGAE’s organizing director.
Wind, Web, Telecom and Sanitation Workers Join AFL-CIO Unions
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Telecom workers, green industry wind power employees, sanitation workers—and, in a precedent setting win, website writers/producers—have recently joined AFL-CIO unions.
In Puerto Rico, 171 call center workers at AT&T Mobility won union representation with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3010 through majority sign-up. Under an agreement between AT&T and CWA, the company will remain neutral and will recognize the union once a majority of employees sign up. Meanwhile, in Ocean County, N.J., five employees of the Borough of Island Heights won representation by CWA Local 1088 also through majority sign-up.
A group of more than 130 workers at Trinity Structural Towers—Iowa’s leading manufacturer of wind towers—voted to join Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 347 in Des Moines.
