After the 100-day walkout, Hollywood writers finally voted to lift their strike and return to work. They are currently going on a tentative contract that gives the writers $1,200 for the deal's first two years, then 2% of the gross income afterwards. The strike cost Los Angeles county more than $3 billion of lost revenue, compared to the last strike in 1988, which cost $500 million in wages. Although the writers haven't technically voted to agree on the contract, they are starting work once again, meaning that new episodes will hopefully be airing soon. Some shows will be able to get a few new episodes out for the end of the spring season, but others (unfortunately, including Heroes), will opt to wait until the fall in order to have a full season.
Personally, I think this is a great outcome. Besides enjoying new episodes of my favorite TV series (Heroes, Lost, etc.), the writers will now be paid for all of their work.
The fact that an entire industry came to a standstill for three months truly shows the large effect of digital distribution. All sorts of media are beginning to become digitally distributed, and in general, it's becoming a larger and larger issue. The obvious pros are the ease of obtaining media and the lack of a need for giant, cabinet filling cases. On the other hand, digital distribution brings up the issue of piracy. With movies, music, and games all already in an easily accessed digital format, it becomes even easier for anyone to distribute it illegally from their own computer. In turn, the distributors must add various copy-protection software which can, and sometimes will, harm computers (see: StarForce). In any case, hopefully a solution will soon be found.
The article on the writer's strike.
Showing posts with label writers strike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writers strike. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
A twist in the Writers Guild strike
Most everyone is aware that writers in Hollywood have been on strike for almost two months now -- since November 5. Collectively, they've lost $350 million in wages yet many strikers are apparently keeping an upbeat outlook as they are used to sporadic employment and they feel that they're working for the larger overall picture of labor movement.
However, the overall picture also contains 40,000 other workers such as electricians, carpenters, and prop makers who have been unvoluntarily out of work as a result of the writers' strike. The strike, which will probably benefit the writers, will not benefit these other employees who are not only losing paychecks but also hours for health insurance eligibility and pension coverage.
Do you think its fair for the other employees to suffer at the expense of the writers' strike? What could be done to fix this?
According to the Monthly Labor Review Online, the average length of work strikes in 2006 was 26.5 days, up from 20 days in 2005. The longest strike in 2006 lasted 211 days.
50 days into their strike, the writers are over the 2006 average but well under the longest strike that occurred last year. Will it do more harm than good all around to continue the strike?
However, the overall picture also contains 40,000 other workers such as electricians, carpenters, and prop makers who have been unvoluntarily out of work as a result of the writers' strike. The strike, which will probably benefit the writers, will not benefit these other employees who are not only losing paychecks but also hours for health insurance eligibility and pension coverage.
Do you think its fair for the other employees to suffer at the expense of the writers' strike? What could be done to fix this?
According to the Monthly Labor Review Online, the average length of work strikes in 2006 was 26.5 days, up from 20 days in 2005. The longest strike in 2006 lasted 211 days.
50 days into their strike, the writers are over the 2006 average but well under the longest strike that occurred last year. Will it do more harm than good all around to continue the strike?
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