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« WGA Post-Strike Watch: News About Returning Shows
Producers Blast WGA's Use of "Fear and Intimidation"
In the wake of reports that some soaps writers have returned to work via a loophole called "financial core" status, the WGA West has formed a Strike Rules Compliance Committee whose mission, says chair Dan Wilcox, "is to ensure that the strike rules are strictly enforced." And the first rule of strike club? "There is no more fundamental working rule than the prohibition against a WGA member performing struck work" — as some Young and the Restless scribes are said to be doing.
The SRCC tells WGA members, "You must inform the Guild of the name of any writer you have reason to believe is engaged in strike-breaking activity or other scab writing…. If you have suspicions about a particular writer or project, the best way to report them will be to call our hotline. Our purpose is not to punish people; it is to head off scab work before it can undermine the strike."
The existence of and enforcement of rules by the SRCC drew immediate fire from the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers, whose president on Tuesday issued a statement asserting, "The WGA is using fear and intimidation to control its membership. Asking members to inform on each other and creating a blacklist of those who question the tactics of the WGA leadership is as unacceptable today as it was when the WGA opposed these tactics in the 1950s."
More WGA strike coverage:
• Dissed by WGA, Ellen DeGeneres Sours on Big Apple Trip
• CBS News Writers May Join Walkout Come Monday
• Indie Film Producers: Hey, We're Not the Bad Guys!
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Nov 13, 2007 8:43 PM
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I said it this morning in another story and after reading this I'll say it again...I have lost pretty much all respect for the WGA. Yes, if you are being treated unfairly, then of course you deserve your just compensation. But to treat writers who choose to return to work like the enemy and try to intimidate them into compliance with their demands? What, is this the Red Scare of writers?
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Nov 13, 2007 9:34 PM
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And thus TV Guide shows its true colors in offering us this one=sided account of how the union is "bullying" its members to stay on strike. This is how strikes work. Period.
Never mind that the studios are the biggest bullies around.
Stop the union bashing!!!
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Nov 13, 2007 9:42 PM
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Each individual knows what their financial straits are, and if some writers' circumstances are dire and they need the work, they should have the right to return without threats and coercion. In such a large organization as the WGA, I'm sure not every member was in favor of a strike with varying reasons. The WGA is an advocate between the writers and the networks/studios. They are not, however, the Gestapo or overlord of their members. Having every member strike sends a strong message. Yet that message isn't tarnished if some are financially strapped and unable to comply.
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Nov 13, 2007 10:31 PM
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I must say that I'm torn on this issue...while I do agree that the writers deserve their fair share of internet and other media downloads, I also know that there are people who CANNOT afford to be out of work and I really feel for them.
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Nov 13, 2007 10:58 PM
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Whoa ... this is starting to get really ugly and you know what, I'm really not sure who to believe. Both sides tell such different stories and it seems quite obvious that someone is lying, but the question is who? I know who I'm inclined to believe who it is, but it could be the other side just as well. *Shakes head* This is just insane and honestly I'm quite frankly getting really, really tired of all the b/s already!
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Nov 13, 2007 11:10 PM
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I've said all along that yes the WGA deserves its share of the profits from its hard work. But it does not deserve that money at the expense of anyone it puts out of work or in a huge financial crisis. It is simply not fair to the every other crew and member of tv shows, movies, etc that are royally screwed by now being suddenly unemployed. It is not fair to the writers who aren't on mega hits like Grey's and have huge salaries. If people want to work, let them work! You can't take food off their tables or the roof from over their head because you want more money!
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Nov 13, 2007 11:16 PM
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If you want to be a member of a union, then you'd be well advised to not try to undermine it. If you're going to be a scab, then you best be ready to face consequences. That's the way the game is played.
It's the WGA's job to increase its leverage against the studios by any and all legal means. The idea that they should just stand by and do nothing as members break their rules and decrease their leverage is ludicrous. If they allow things like this to happen, then the strike will be rendered entirely pointless.
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Nov 13, 2007 11:31 PM
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DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE! I'm in the guild. I received the email. All it said was that if you know someone's scabbing then you can report them to the guild. It wasn't threatening. It wasn't intimidating. We're not supposed to be working now during this labor dispute and if someone does then they're breaking the rules. This is a distraction tactic from the AMPTP and it's sad to see that it's worked on some of you. Why aren't they negotiating!?!? WHY!?!?!
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Nov 14, 2007 1:09 AM
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I wonder how I could become a scab. I know I can write better scripts than the wannabe writers on strike. No wonder TV sucks so much -- these cry babies can barely put two sentences together. If they pay me six figures a year, the studios can keep the download residuals. Hire me!
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Nov 14, 2007 2:28 AM
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Watch "Voices of Uncertainity" on youtube and then wonder why the writers are doing what they are doing.
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Nov 14, 2007 2:52 AM
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The information I've read from the WGA says that writers CAN claim the financial need to continue writing despite the strike, and legally do so, but if they do, they forfeit many (not all) of the benefits of the WGA... which only seems fair. That they're trying to dissuade writers from breaking the strike and NOT doing so honestly is hardly intimidation.
I, too, am disappointed in TVG for this particularly slanted piece, but that's freedom of speech for you. Speaking of which....
"I know I can write better scripts than the wannabe writers on strike... If they pay me six figures a year, the studios can keep the download residuals." Oh, Phatastico. You just keep telling yourself that. You do realize that 48% of the WGA members are unemployed at any time, right? Not because they're bad (for every bad script, we get writers of shows like Pushing Daisies and Journeyman) but because that's the nature of the business... hence the need for residuals.
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Nov 14, 2007 6:35 AM
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The problem for soap writers may be the fact that if the strike drags on very long, the entire soap genre may die. Certain soaps have been teeteringon the brink for a while now.
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Nov 14, 2007 10:04 AM
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"I said it this morning in another story and after reading this I'll say it again...I have lost pretty much all respect for the WGA. Yes, if you are being treated unfairly, then of course you deserve your just compensation. But to treat writers who choose to return to work like the enemy and try to intimidate them into compliance with their demands? What, is this the Red Scare of writers?"
First, don't be suckered in by the studio's spin. Second, you need to learn how unions work. They are able to negotiate better terms for ALL writers by collective bargaining. A strike doesn't have much teeth if writers can work if they feel like it. A writer who crosses the picket lines is being selfish and undermining the careers of all writers including themself. If they don't want to be under the jurisdiction of the union, they should get a career in a different business.
It's unfortunate that people are out of work and money is being lost, but it's even more unfortunate that this is the only way that the writers can have any power in their negotiations. They're up against billion dollar companies, these companies aren't going to give in on anything until they start getting hurt in their pocketbook.
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Nov 14, 2007 10:20 AM
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I, too, am disappointed in TVG for this particularly slanted piece, but that's freedom of speech for you.
Matt here. This is but one Strike Watch item among how many thus far which presented the WGA and its members' points of view. I disagree that it's "slanted." It quotes the SRCC chair on its mission, then offers the AMPTP's response. It also puts the "fear and intimidation" in quotes, as to not imply they are facts. Slanted would have been if I only presented the AMPTP statement with zero context.
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Nov 14, 2007 10:48 AM
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