More On The Writers' Strike

Except for the fact that folks are having to strike over such an obvious issue as revenue from new media sources, this strike is like a labor utopia for me. By the way, I want to mention that I do not represent WGA or SAG or AFTRA. I represent a couple of IATSE locals but none are impacted by the strike. Not sure whether representing one of those unions would create a conflict of interest but I wanted to give full disclosure.

Anyway, back to labor utopia. Driving home last night, I listened to 15 full minutes of labor coverage. Never in my life have I heard that much labor talk, none of it from a unionbuster, on NPR. The media feels such a kinship with WGA (I hope), they are giving them actual coverage. Its also in the NYT, Yahoo News, Google News, and The Recorder (CA legal news). And that's just the old media. You can find WGA on their own websites, on Facebook, YouTube and MySpace and probably some other places I have never heard of. It's awfully refreshing. Check United Hollywood for links to those places where you can learn more. And sign the WGA petition.

Oh, and if you still don't understand what this is about:

So *THIS* Is How It Works

In case you are wondering what old school economic weapons look like when married to "new media"-savvy workers, this Writers Guild of America strike may end up being the model. They have their own website, updating picket sites info regularly United Hollywood, lists of sitcoms that have shut down because actors won't cross picket lines or work while being struck, members blogging, Teamsters walking away from their trucks while gate guards have to unload them. It's very inspiring and cool.

Now if only there were more union members portrayed on television. . .

Writers' Strike and Other Thoughts

There's something about Hollywood that makes people pay attention in a way they won't when it concerns another industry. Here is a summary of the issues, and there are plenty of blogs chronicling the dispute (writers not working still gotta scratch that itch. See Undercover Black Man and United Hollywood, which has actual information for picketing writers. I expect Calitics will keep its eye on the strike, as will the mainstream media.

And here's a sexual harassment case I will not likely be sharing with any of my clients. In Coolidge v. Indianapolis, the Seventh Circuit found that the appellant was not sexually harassed by her former supervisor when she found necrophiliac pornography that he may have left behind. The Court found, among other things, that as a Crime Lab employee, exposure to such material did not have the same "shocking overtones" it might have in another setting. It recalls "the Seinfeld case", Lyle v. Warner Bros., where the Cal Supremes defined when it was okay to talk dirty at work. Now that I think about it, those alleged harassers are probably out on the picket line today.

UPDATE: 11/5, 3:20p - A writer was hit by a car on the picket line, per ABC News.