Congrats to the writers on strike in Los Angeles!

There is more to it then that.

Without the writers, people like Jay Leno are not funny. I wonder how he has been coping the last view weeks...

and without Jay Leno... his writers have nothing to write.

I heard there will be a directors strike coming up very soon from someone inside hollywood.. Alot of the directors are also writers and they wanted to strike.. but since they are also on the writers guild they had to strike.. So get ready for another strike to come soon..

And Jay Leno gets residuals.

See how that works?

Fuck off.

You know that's not true.

Here is what you need:

no there isn't. its always the same old shit. unions very existence is predicated on the idea that employees are ALWAYS being taken advantage of. thats how they TRY stay relevant in spite of tanking memberships over the last 10-20 years.

I have a business partner who is a consultant for Noble House Resorts who owns the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle for example. They have done extensive renovations inside and out. One contractor used a sub-contractor to do some electrical work and unions started picketing the hotel .... using the reasoning that they aren't really picketing the hotel, they are picketing the contractor who hired the non-union sub-contractor.

meanwhile, one of the cities nicest, most famous hotels has a 15 foot tall inflatable rat in front of it and 5 fucking idiots (ironically, unemployed union members) blowing air horns at anyone who pulls up to the hotel.... imagine that shit going on day and night at a nice hotel. and for what? because a contractor used a non-union subcontractor. the business suffers and patrons suffer for what exactly?

i could go on and on and on. we don't live in 1890 anymore. there are labor laws and plenty of them. unions themselves are nothing more than parasitic organizations that prey on their members. while writers were striking... how much do you think they were being compensated? i mean... they pay hundreds of millions if not billions, in union dues every month, surely they get something back right? no? not really? you mean they just get a couple hundred a week while they strike? thats strange.

unions are one of the largest destructive forces to an economy and society.

ok... so grab a random guy of the street to do that job... which anyone can do and see how it works.

everyone with a pen and paper is a writer. not everyone is a successful stand up comedian and tv host. in fact, the ratio of writers who could write the show (or be on a team of 10 writers which makes the writing exponentially easier) vs those that could host the show would probably look something like this - 594,574,365,884,345:12

of course Michael Moore had to jump in and get some face time, letting everyone know that it was a huge victory for the little guy over cooperate America.

YAAAAAAAWNNNNNNN

maybe its just a victory for him... it seems he needs a new writer. his material is pretty stale as well.

News flash most of time if a employers can fuck a employee they will.
If you dont understand how residuals work and not only writers get them.Then you shouldnt comment on things you dont understand.

Let's just nuke all of hollywood and start over...

thats total communist sounding bullshit. most employers want to build exceptional companies which begins with happy, content employees.


its not complicated you know. it seems you have an emotional weakness for anyone you perceive is being beat down. thats a common theme in your posts.

its not complicated.

people write shit... then they want to get paid in perpetuity for it. they want to be paid extremely well up front, they don't want to take any financial risks associated with the work they are creating (i.e. the show for example can fail and a company can lose hundreds of millions of dollars)... and yet they want to be paid in perpetuity for anything they create.


i have a newsflash for everyone who points to jay leno, david letterman and anyone else... they all had successful careers WITHOUT writers well before they had writers.

This is too funny. Yep my weakness is called I have a heart. As far as companies treating people great thats really funny. You must not get out much. lol

Pleasurepays

Pleasurepays is the hidden son of Leno or the bitch serving his coffee.

Artist unite and batter the writers because they create piss shows!

I agree with the statement above, Starbucks didnt get to be so big by brewing great coffee ( its bitter burnt shit ) no they got big because they have happy employees who get paid above average plus benefits and it shows in how they treat customers and how they produce a consistent product. An unhappy employee is the kiss of death for most companies

sorry, but don't automatically assume there is a victim and injustice being comitted as you do.... then find the "villian" so i know where to direct my anger.. erhm... i mean, my "heart"

the world is what it is. some people hold themselves accountable... some spend their time looking for who to blame. one way better serves the individual, one is destructive.

i can use your reasoning to say "without a camera man, there is no jay leno show"... in fact, i can go on forever with that line of reasoning. at the end of the day, its Jay Leno that is responsible for his sucess and no one else. if anyone could do it... anyone would be doing it.

Not that I watch a great deal of tv, but honestly, I haven't even noticed that they are on strike. If I didn't read it or see it on the news, I would have never known a strike took place.

Why do they even put up with the union, the producers/studios that is? Why can't they just hire some other writer, not in the guild, for half the cost and twice the talent?

Because any writer crossing the picket line would only have a career as a script writer until the moment that the strike ended... and then his career would be over...

So not many with a talent for the skill are doing it.

Writing is usually (one of if not) the first step in the production process... aside from daily shows such as late night (with the exclusion of a few shows such as David Letterman, who brokered his own deal with the writer's guild and so has writer's working for him), the Colbert Report, etc., the ramifications are only recently starting to be noticed by the average viewer with many scheduled shows being postponned indefinitely as only half, if any, of their shows have been completed.

Here's a wiki list of how the strike has affected us:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_..._on_television

Many studios have already passed the time that they entertain pitches on new ideas for the Fall Season - so we'll probably also see far fewer new shows in the 2008 Fall line-up.

Give them new pens and pencils!

I know plenty of people that come up with way more creative ideas than some of the shows on tv over the past 5 years. One set, show, or a movie... Hell with some direction and a bit of cash a small group of inspired people could easily do it and wouldn't bitch about a fair size quick paycheck.

And that is kinda what I mean, why don't why the producers/companies just change how they do business. They are being held by the balls, by the creative department, doesn't that seem really off?

I support the writers.

Jetting it to Jay Leno's !!!111

Top Ten Little-Known Demands of the Striking WGA Writers.

10) Fewer laptops, more lap-dancers.
9) Triple word bonuses like in Scrabble.
8) Sugar-coated erasers on their pencils.
7) Time off for paper cuts.
6) All DVD royalties paid in Chuck E. Cheese tokens.
5) Top Ten list be reduced to nine.
4) Bonuses for writers at Fox News when a news item turns out to be true.
3) Special clause saying they'll never have to tie up all the loose ends on "Lost".
2) 20% higher minimum temperature in the Ed Sullivan Theater.
1) Demanding their names be removed from credits of all Pauly Shore movies.

The DGA has already negotiated and approved their new contract, it was done a few weeks ago, and included the provision that the studios formally invite the Writers Guild back to the negotiating table. The DGA also got pretty much everything they asked for in the deal, as they weren't acting like fuckwit morons like the writers.

There's a huge problem when a guy who wrote one script ten years ago and has been working at Starbucks ever since has the same vote as a guy writing the next Brad Pitt movie...

Everyone who supports the writers should send a monthly check to the guy who tightened the bolts of the motor mount joints in the car you're driving..

Probably not a bad idea to get the name/addy of the one who installed your seat belts too!

I guess you opt for PPS as opposed to revshare, right?

In the webmaster world, we generally have to choose between PPS. We can't insist on a $100 PPS up front and then, when we realize the program paying out is still in business, decide our traffic was worth more than that and demand revshare on top of the PPS.

it would be a bit more in this situation like webmasters saying

"you will pay us XX% of the revenue that your site generates in spite of your own risks and investment and you WILL not have the right to work with any other webmasters until you agree to our demands and you do not have the right to generate your own sales through any methods unless you do it through us and compensate us"

The main point of this last strike was about the Internet. The writers wanted more residual pay on DVD sales (A raise from 4cents per DVD to 8cents) and there was no problem with that. However they wanted a piece of the pie from Internet sales and income. Since it is a relatively new venture nobody is really sure how that will ultimately play out. the guy that negotiated for the WGA was quoted as saying, "I'm not going to be known as the guy that gave away the Internet." So they took a firm stance on it. That is what stalled all of the talks.

Many unions can often do more harm than good. A good example would be a friend of mine's wife who is a nurse. A few years back they went on strike. They were on strike for 4 months then got a new contract. The new contract would cover the next 3 years. The funny thing is it would take all the money they were going to get in pay raises over the next 3 years just to cover the lost income from the strike so basically they gained nothing.

That said I think they can be good. They can help workers in certain fields get fair pay and good working conditions. The notion that every business owner wants a good company with happy, well taken care of employees is just not realistic. I have worked for many different places in my life and I would say about half of them were interesting in making a good company with happy, well cared for employees. the others just wanted to make money and would skimp anywhere they could to do so. I have seen companies change health insurance carries to lower quality policies, use broken down machines that could have been repaired but weren't - they were just rode hard, cut commissions at holidays because that was the busy time of year, refuse to hire anyone with any real experience because it was cheaper to hire inexperienced workers, train them then let them leave and replace them every 9 months and so on. One company I worked for even turned 1/3rd of the lights in the building off to save money. All in the name of profit.

To me this writer's strike was a two way street. Yes the writers decided to strike and ultimately that cost a lot of money and may have cost some people their jobs. But the producers could have quickly put an end to it. They only negotiated with the Director's Guild for a couple of days then gave them pretty much everything the writer's ended up getting. To me it is simple math. If the Internet turns out to be a big revenue source, they share some of it and if not, they lose nothing. The movie business is like any other. People will get whatever they can. If you are promoting a site and making $30 per sign-up at it and along comes a new, similar site and you can make $40 per with the same ratios, and everything is the same only you make more money would you do it? I would guess most people would. What if you (and others) moving your traffic to this new site caused the old one to go out of business and some people to lose their jobs? Would you care now or would you move your traffic back? Probably not.

well, you can demand it, it doesn't mean you will get it. There are many webmasters out there that negotiate higher or different pay because they can send a lot of sales. If it is good for the company and they want the traffic they will make the deal, if not, they won't.

power to the workers, comrades...

Strikes are lame, if you aren't getting paid enough, tough shit, get a new job...

Millions outside the industry?

i grew up in the fishing industry. in seattle, we had one of our boats in the ship yard and we had a very tight schedule to get a lot done, get underway and get to the Bering Sea and start fishing in time for the season to start (pollock)

so crews are all working on the boat doing various things... welders, mechanics, electricians, guys from all various companies that make the winches, pumps, refrigeration systems etc overseeing their own work.

so.... a guy has to weld something on the deck (a mount for a winch).

the welder shows up

looks around... says "i can't work here because someone left their tools all over the place in the area where i have to weld... its unsafe"

i'm standing there and said "give me a second, i'll move them"

he shouts back quickly, those belong to one of our guys, you can't touch our stuff, its in the contract

i say "ok.. .so what the fuck! move this shit and get going... time is money and you're being paid around 60.00 an hour to stand here looking like a retard and its costing our company upwards of 100.00 an hour"

he smirks... "well, you see, i can't touch them either... they belong to xyz... he has to move them"

finally, i just move all the shit and tell him to stop fucking around

then what happens??? well... a light bulb is burned out. unsafe working conditions.. can't start working.

i say "ok, i'll change the lightbulb... give me a second"

he says... "no, you can't, its the electricians job"

now i am ready to kill this prick.

i run around for 30 minutes to find the electrician, explain the situation and beg him to change the lightbulb so that asshole can finish up a 30 minute project that is now wasted over an hour and a 1/2 and nothing is done.

the electrician says "its not my job to change the lightbulb... there is an electricians apprentice for that"

kinda stunned... kinda pissed... kinda curious at this point, i ask "where is the apprentice"

of course... no one knows.

after running around trying to find that guy, finally we got everything fixed up so the first idiot could do a 30 minute job.




thats what unions are. thats what unions do. thats the mentality of union workers... "its us against you... all day, everyday"

most of my family are union welders and i grew up listening to do nothing but dream up bigger and better ways to do nothing and get paid more.... adn they do it at the direct expense of the employer ... i.e. "the one who allegedly victimizes them"

my fathers shop didn't have a single tool in it that didn't have Chevron, Tesoro or the names of other miscellaneous refineries in the area etched into them. same case for all his friends. i grew up thinking these were companies that made tools. and how did they rip off the job? well... union contract said no on can be searched of course.

i could go on forever and ever about the destructive nature of unions. for every story where something good happens, there are 1000s happening daily that are nothing but negative.

a union is a legal mafia. nothing more. its a mafia who's business is extortion. its one where in cases such as being a writer in hollywood... that you don't have a choice in joining. the extortion happens by constantly preaching to members that they are being abused by their employers.. they everything is "unfair" and it's legal extortion made possible by impossibly protective and unfair laws. its better than preaching the bible... who doesn't want to blame the employer for their shitty life? very comforting. now you can rationalize being a loser. meanwhile, everyone is giving a cut of their paycheck every month.. to who? why? well, thats not always very clear. now you are told you can't work because there is a strike.. what do you do? nothing. you can't do anything because you are now not allowed to take a union job and of course can't take a non union job. will you be compensated? of course!! you'll get a few hundred a month to supplement your lack of income and watch your life fall apart like a retard.

but its all good.. they belong to a "brotherhood" ... a great concept where the only bond is the check they mail off every month and the fact that others can decide suddenly for them that they can't earn a living.

really? you need to have the 5th grade level, basics of macro-economics explained to you?

I was wondering why all these soup lines had sprung up lately.

well... i'm quite a bit younger than you, so i don't consider The Great Depression to be "lately"

apology accepted