A Bad Deal
Don’t get fooled again…A few months back, I wrote about the prospective peace deal being hammered about between the Writers Guild of Amerca, west and the Writers Guild of America East.
At that time, I felt that the deal wasn’t a bad one because at the very least, we’d finally get the WGAE to improve their membership standards, which are basically non-existent.
Here’s what’s happened since.
The membership standards thing never came to pass.
And even worse, new language was thrown in that now means that credit arbitrations involving WGAE writers can be administered by the WGAE. The problem with that?
Well, if you’re a first writer or a spec writer, you should know that the WGAE is slanted towards rewriters. Far more disconcerting however, is that they do not have a real Credits Department. They don’t have the staff, the don’t have the lawyers, they don’t have the experience.
Credits arbitration is extremely time-consuming, difficult, potentially litigious and always stressful. Our credits staff, which is nearly the size of the entire staff of the WGAE, barely keeps their heads above water…and now we’re going to outsource credit arbitrations to an organization with little to no experience or resources?
Folks, I believe in finding and making a good deal with the WGAE. I want peace. I just don’t want bad peace. This agreement was rushed to meet artificial deadlines. Important rights, like the right of any WGAw or WGAE member to choose the union to which they’d like to belong are scheduled for outright elimination.
It’s bad. Bad, bad, bad. Do NOT vote for this thing.
If you are a member in good standing of the WGAw and you’d like to support my efforts to defeat this very flawed scheme, consider lending your name to a statement written by a former Board member against the proposals. Here is the text. If you want to support it, simply email Barbara Ditlow at the WGAw and say, “I wish to add my name in support to Tim O’Donnell’s statement against the proposed changes to our constitution.”
You have until Wednesday to get your emails in. If you know other WGAw members, please alert them as well. If these poorly thought-out changes are approved, we are in for some very rough days.
As someone who works in New York, is there a link to the WGAE proposal?
“Important rights, like the right of any WGAw or WGAE member to choose the union to which they’d like to belong are scheduled for outright elimination.”
Isn’t this downright illegal?
Craig - As a new WGAw member, your site has proved to be a great resource for catching up to speed on the issues currently at play at the Guild. While you have provided me with a decent grasp on the current tensions between east and west, I am still very naive to how these tensions came to be. Do you have any posts with a more historic view on WGAe and WGAw?
Ben—
If you haven’t yet signed up for WriterAction, the message board exclusively for members of the WGA (west or East), take a moment to register. In addition to having access to other professional writers, both for information on the business as well as a chance to make some friends, there is more information on the history of the WGAE and WGAw than you may ever want. :-)
To sign up, go to www.writeraction.com and follow the instructions. Your WGA status will have to be verified, so it will take at least one business day before you’re good to go, but if you sign up tonight you’ll probably be approved by this time tomorrow.
I think Craig has written more on this topic as well, but I’ll let him point you to the relevant essays…
As someone concerned with copyrights, and presumably copyright infringement, you might be interested to know that I did not give you my permission to post one of my precious cartoons! My lawyer is IN!
WOW! Craig Mazin raises the dead!!
Isn’t it great that even dead authors can visit Craig’s website and threaten to sue him?
:)
Something very important to understand, that I’m sure Craig can explain better than me, is that the East/West peace deal only came after the East basically blackmailed the West with an ad in Variety.
Writer’s Guild East planted an ad in Variety suggesting that writers who had collected foreign levies by the WGAw might have been illegally ripped off, and suggested that they should join a lawsuit to get their proper share.
Ironically, even after the West caved in and tried to settle with the Eest, some real lawsuits emerged, and now both Guilds are going to have to defend themselves against charges that foreign levies weren’t being properly distributed.
The money’s involved are huge, and could possibly bankrupt WGAw.
Well, I can explain that that’s not true. :)
That ad actually appeared in Variety just prior to a mediation session that occurred in 2005 between the WGAw and the WGAE. I was part of the WGAw mediation team.
The mediation had been scheduled prior to the appearance of the ad. Therefore, the ad clearly had nothing to do with the fact of the mediation. Furthemore, that mediation failed. The WGAw stuck to its guns on its demands.
Therefore, that ad clearly had no blackmail value whatsoever.
The only event that truly softened the WGAw’s stance toward the East (and in my mind, to the point of caving in) was the election of the Writers United slate.
Of course, we asked Mona Mangan, the E.D. of the WGAE, if she had planted the ad. She said “no,” but I don’t value her word very much.
In conclusion…we are being sued over foreign levies, we will not be bankrupted, and that ad had absolutely zero effect on WGAw policies.
where’s WGAw Prexy Patric Verrone on this one?
he seemed happy to rattle his sword about striking in Variety last week…but he’s going to let this go down without a peep?
what gives?
Anybody use the Literary Protection Group for an arbitration?