Over at HuffPo, writer-director John Sayles gives an interview with Bob Eisele about unions, the entertainment industry, the strike and how the changing world of Internet delivery is intersecting with the consolidation of huge corporations:What we have today are fewer unionized workers, especially if you don't count public service workers, than you've ever had before. And the movie industry is

Something wonderful happened yesterday: A walkout by employees at MTV Networks successfully forced the company to restore most of the benefits it had announced would be rolled back. United Hollywood, and I personally, congratulate those who organized (yeah, I said it) this inspiring effort.

Who's to say what health issues may be associated with the production or consumption of cultured meat. At least it would avoid situations like this:

Sickened Pork Workers Have New Nerve Disorder"Eighteen pork plant workers in Minnesota, at least five in Indiana and one in Nebraska have come down with a mysterious neurological condition they appear to have contracted while removing brains from slaughtered pigs, U.S. researchers and health officials said on Wednesday."

"The first cases of the condition were reported in November of last year at Quality Pork Processors Inc in Austin, Minnesota, where workers had been using compressed air to blow pork brains out of the skull cavity."________

First, we hear almost everyday about toxic toys coming from China being added to the recall list, but the Chinese toy horrors don't end there. Disney is also violating Chinese labour laws, which are not the best to begin with in the first place. The Chinese toy problems go beyond lead in paints to the rights of workers.

According to Breitbart.com,

From the Modesto Bee: This time last year, Ernesto Dias, 31, of Modesto was framing houses in Merced. By autumn, he and his co-workers realized that work was slowing and it wasn't just a seasonal shift. "The supervisors weren't talking about the next job because there wasn't a next job," Dias said.

He hasn't swung a hammer in eight months. After being out of work for two months, he started looking for nonconstruction work. A friend helped him get a part-time job washing dishes at night. His family was barely making it on his minimum-wage salary, so he took a second part-time job with a landscaping company. "I still don't make as much as I did in construction," Dias said. "My friends are going through the same thing. There's work out there, but it pays less, so you have to work more."

Will 1+1 someday = 2?

The WGA, the Teamsters and California State Senator Sheila Kuehl have just announced the introduction of the "Fair Market Value Bill." The bill seeks to prevent studios from selling programming to sister companies for below market value. This particular strain of Hollywood accounting is designed to shift profits away from the studios (where they must be shared with talent and producers and serve as a basis for pension and health contributions) to networks, where they may be enjoyed without the pesky need to pay one's "partners."

Press release below. We'll have more soon on the bill in particular and Hollywood skulduggery in general.

And if you're a studio accountant or lawyer looking to go all Michael Clayton on the Big Six, send us a tip or a post.

NEW BILL TAKES AIM AT HOLLYWOOD ACCOUNTING

California State Senator Sheila Kuehl Introduces Bill to End the Practice of Selling Television Series and Films for Less Than Fair Market Value

Los Angeles and Sacramento – California State Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) has introduced Senate Bill 1765, the "Fair Market Value Bill," to end the practice by some major studios and networks of “underselling” television series or movies.

Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake reports that Fabiani & Lehane, the formerly-Democratic PR firm, has been canned by SEIU Local 99 and will have lost all of its union clients by week's end. From Jane's post:"By the end of the week, I believe Chris Lehane will have no union clients because of his work for the AMPTP," says SEIU President Andy Stern, who confirms that all Change to Win Unions are severing ties with Lehane. "His days are numbered in the labor movement." ... Change to Win unions include the Teamsters, Laborers, SEIU, Carpenters & Joiners, United Farm Workers, Food and Commercial Workers, and UNITE HERE.

Will 1+1 someday = 2?

The WGA, the Teamsters and California
State Senator Sheila Kuehl have just announced the introduction of the
"Fair Market Value Bill." The bill seeks to prevent studios from
selling programming to sister companies for below market value. This
particular strain of Hollywood accounting is designed to shift profits
away from the studios (where they must be shared with talent and
producers and serve as a basis for pension and health contributions) to
networks, where they may be enjoyed without the pesky need to pay one's
"partners."

Press release below the break.  We'll have more soon on the bill in particular and Hollywood skulduggery in general.

And if you're a studio accountant or lawyer looking to go all Michael Clayton on the Big Six, send us a tip or a post.

NEW BILL TAKES AIM AT HOLLYWOOD ACCOUNTING

California
State Senator Sheila Kuehl Introduces Bill to End the Practice of
Selling Television Series and Films for Less Than Fair Market Value

Interesting things, facts. They are simply what they are. And yet sometimes you can read a lot into them.

Here's a fact:
On December 18, the Writer's Guild testified before the Los Angeles City Council about the economic impact of the strike.

Here's another fact:
The AMPTP didn't show up. [Gosh, just like at the negotiating table.]

Instead, they asked the MPAA to take care of it. The MPAA represents the AMPTP before all levels of government throughout the world. The MPAA also provides economic data and information on the motion picture and television business to the public.

And one more fact:

It's terrific that the two parties have joined together for the public good in this time of financial stress to send checks to the American people, and give tax breaks (that is, "incentives") to corporations. At least we got past the eager opportunists who argued that because we need an immediate economic stimulus the Bush tax cuts set to expire three years hence should be made permanent now. Go figure.

In the spirit of bipartisanship, I thought it might be useful to recall the 1909 words of uber-capitalist Andrew Carnegie:

We managed to survive a six-day vacation across three states without once stopping at the Golden Arches, but we did meet a zombie at an Ogallala, Nebraska Wendy's.

It was a clear summer evening, and darkness hung in the air as we entered the largely empty Wendy's restaurant to get a late night meal. After standing at the counter for a couple of minutes, Wes stepped up, looked at the cash register and then yelled at someone in the back, saying "You didn't sign out at the register." He then turn to us and asked us if he could take our order.

As the Industry Support Fund and The Actors Fund (which administers the ISF) continue to help industry workers who lost income and health care coverage during the strike, we offer this helpful post from freelance journalist and United Hollywood lover Becca Bryan. -TES

DON'T GET CAUGHT WITH YOUR PANTS DOWN! THE ACTORS FUND IS THERE FOR EVERYONE.

by Becca Bryan

As someone who has lost a few

The negotiating committee and the board came out to a full house at the Shrine Auditorium. They were met with a standing ovation. Standing ovations continued through the meeting as Verrone congratulated the membership on its efforts over the last three plus months. Bowman discussed what the nature of negotiations were like on the inside, where we started, and what we've gained. David Young went

In his Huffington Post article, How Big Media Breaks The Law On "Survivor" Island, Jonathan Tasini writes:

It now appears that Big Media has been routinely breaking wage-and-hour laws, pocketing piles of money it should have been paying to writers who work in reality television. Here's the story. Turns out that reality television is a sweat-shop for the writers who make those shows happen: long hours with no overtime pay, no health insurance, and no pension.He points out that this is a broader problem for all American workers, not just writers:

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been very supportive of our strike. They've paid for billboards reading, "Hey Studios... Do the Write Thing. 1.9 million janitors, healthcare workers, public employees, and security officers support the writers' struggle for fairness." At last week's union solidarity rally they marched with us, as they have on several other occasions.

(The following is from WGA Member Joshua Beckett regarding the SEIU Rally that took place in downtown LA this past Thursday.)

Just wanted to brief those of you who missed the SEIU rally today. It was heartfelt...and loud!! There were many, many WGA members there -- it looked like there were almost as many WGA folks as SEIU marchers! And what a great feeling that was! Truly.

The political website moveon.org has started a petition to bring back "The Daily Show":

Why are The Daily Show, Colbert Report, and other TV shows in re-runs? TV studios are refusing to pay writers fairly--causing them to strike.

The studios will make over $120 million in ad revenue this year showing TV programs on the web. But they want to give writers a one-time payment of $250—that's right, $250—for unlimited use of their content online. This unbelievable greed is keeping Jon Stewart and his team off the air.

Can you sign this petition to the studio executives--and then ask all your friends who love "The Daily Show" to sign it too?

A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to the major studio executives.

(This just in from the WGA... I've heard similar sentiment from friends and family all over the nation. The temperature I'm reading -- the whole country is fed up with corporate conglomerates caring only about the bottom line, and not about the welfare of their workers.)

Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their latest monthly read of job availability and turnover (JOLT) showing that, on a year-over-year basis, private non-farm job “openings” declined 8.85%, job “hires” declined 4.63%, and “separations” declined 0.38% led by a 5.47% drop in “quits”.

Job “openings” (click chart below for larger version), the reports most leading “demand side” indicator, has now declined on a year-over-year basis for five consecutive months strongly suggesting that the private sector is planning to curtail future hiring activity.

Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their latest monthly read of job availability and turnover (JOLT) showing that, on a year-over-year basis, private non-farm job “openings” declined 9.67%, job “hires” declined 11.25%, and “separations” declined 6.60% led by a 8.51% drop in “quits”.

Job “openings” (click chart below for larger version), the reports most leading “demand side” indicator, has now declined on a year-over-year basis for five consecutive months strongly suggesting that the private sector is planning to curtail future hiring activity.

One of the few benefits of getting older is gaining perspective from the passage of time. What strikes me most about the large scale changes that have taken place in the course of my adult life are not those related to terrorism or torture or the conservative grip on the Supreme Court, but rather the shift in the economic structure of the country. We’ve all heard about the increasing disparity between rich and poor, which is a part of this shift, but it goes beyond that, as Joshua Holland details in this report:

Fewer than 1 percent of Americans are millionaires, but almost one in three believe they'll end up among that group at some point.

Yesterday the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their latest monthly read of job availability and turnover (JOLT) showing that, on a year-over-year basis, private non-farm job “openings” declined 11.86%, job “hires” declined 6.29%, and “separations” declined 4.82% led by a 10.81% drop in “quits”.

Job “openings” (click chart below for larger version), the reports most leading “demand side” indicator, has now declined on a year-over-year basis for five consecutive months strongly suggesting that the private sector is planning to curtail future hiring activity.

United Hollywood is keeping CBS mogul Les Moonves in its thoughts and prayers. As Bloomberg news reports, Moonves signed a new compensation package worth, on the low end, $30 million dollars per year. But shockingly, his base salary was cruelly cut from $5.6 million in 2006 to a mere $3.5 million in 2007. Such a devastating loss of income must be particularly difficult around the holidays. It certainly is for all of us on strike or put out of work.

Perhaps when this strike is resolved -- and we writers, below the line crew, actors and directors have our income restored -- we can all chip in to help Les Moonves through his time of need. Until then, Les, if you need a place to crash, I have a futon.

The business and financial punditocracy is terrified of ever uttering the word "recession" because they think they'll get blamed for self-fulfilling prophecy if it happens. But now they are starting to utter it, in the required format "I don't think it will happen but it might," which means they do think it will happen. Some are even gloomier and are embedding the D word in breathy exhalations.

But they do try to predict health care costs ten years out. You may have seen a news brief about the new prediction that health care spending will be 19.5% of GDP by 2017. Health Affairs has made this open access, so go for it if you are turned on by wonkery.

Now, there are a lot of assumptions that go into any such prediction, and it's pretty obvious that unless the McCain campaign succeeds in its increasingly transparent plan to make voters believe that Barack Obama is a secret muslim extremist who has been planted by al Qaeda to turn the country over to Islamofascist infiltrators and give Tomahawk cruise missiles to Hamas,* some of those assumptions will be overturned somehow some way, and they probably won't all work out anyway. But, for what it's worth, the broad outlines of what these perpetrators of deep wonkery expect assuming that nothing major changes are as follows.

Last week, State Senator Sheila Kuehl introduced a bill in the California Senate that protects all entertainment union workers.  Below, WGAw Secretary-Treasurer Elias Davis explains the bill and asks the members of all entertainment-industry unions to support it by sending an email to its sponsors in the California State Assembly. 

Over the past few years a number of TV show creators have brought suit against major studios in cases where the studios have sold TV series to companies owned by the studios themselves. The reason for the suits is simple - because of self-dealing, these shows have been sold for far less money than they could have brought in had they been offered for sale on the open market.

This week the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their latest monthly read of job availability and turnover (JOLT) showing that, on a year-over-year basis, private non-farm job “openings” declined 8.27%, job “hires” declined 9.80%, and “separations” declined 5.06% led by a 11.20% drop in job“quits”, the largest year-over-year decline to voluntary “quitting” activity seen since August 2003.

Job “openings” (click chart below for larger version), the reports most leading “demand side” indicator, has now declined on a year-over-year basis for five consecutive months strongly suggesting that the private sector is planning to curtail future hiring activity.

From CBS 13 (video):Our depressed economy is turning out to be a business boom for area pawn shops. They're dealing with business owners, real estate agents, and other people who are parting with valuables to make ends meet...A lot of construction workers have to stay home, and now some are giving up the tools of their trade just to get by.
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