Senator Ted Stevens - Please Don't Come to RNC

Congressional Committee Urges CEOs to Make Fair Deal

The following letter was sent out today by three members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor. (via Variety's Scribe Vibe blog) -JA

February 1, 2008

Mr. Peter Chernin, Chairman and CEO
The Fox Group

Mr. Robert Iger, President and CEO
The Walt Disney Company

Dear Messrs. Chernin and Iger:

As Chairs and Members of the House Committee on Education and Labor, we have monitored the ongoing labor dispute between your company and the Writers Guild of America with particular interest and growing concern. We were pleased to see that, after suspension of formal negotiations, you and the other members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have convened informal discussions with Writers Guild representatives. The purpose of our letter is to encourage you to seek a fair, just, and swift resolution to this labor dispute.

The television and film industry is a significant part of our national economy. It provides thousands of jobs, directly and indirectly, each year. It generates critical revenue to cities, counties, and states. Its products are among the country’s most valuable exports.

The entertainment industry not only supports writers, actors, and producers but is a major source of middle class jobs for California, New York, and the rest of the country. We appreciate that the issues at stake are critical to the future of your business. As the entertainment industry grows and changes, we hope that any new business models will allow for creative talent to grow with the industry.

Maintaining the middle class jobs that your industry provides is among our greatest concerns. The growing cost of this dispute is of increasing concern in the Congress. We understand that Los Angeles County, for example, has lost an estimated $1.6 billion in economic activity due to the strike. Given the House Education and Labor Committee’s jurisdiction, we are exploring the need for further Committee attention to this matter. The impact of this strike on workers, the industry, and our economy is simply too pronounced to ignore.

We urge you to work to resolve the dispute with a fair and just agreement for all parties as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

GEORGE MILLER
Chairman
Committee on Education and Labor

LYNN C. WOOLSEY
Chairperson
Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

LINDA T. SÁNCHEZ
Member
Committee on Education and Labor

cc: Patric M. Verrone, President, Writers Guild of America West
Michael Winship, President, Writers Guild of America East
Jeffrey Zucker, President and CEO, NBC Universal
Les Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Entertainment
Barry M. Meyer, Chairman and CEO, Warner Brothers Inc.
Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO, Paramount Pictures Corp.
Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Harry Sloan, Chairman and CEO, MGM

I Heart Huckabee

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who has actively sought union support during his campaign, crossed WGA picket lines outside NBC studios in Burbank Wednesday in order to appear on the Tonight Show, all while offering several (often lame) excuses for his actions.

Before heading to LA for his appearance yesterday, according to the AP, Huckabee told reporters traveling with him that he wouldn't be crossing any picket lines because the WGA had made interim deals to allow all latenight shows back on TV.

"My understanding is that there was a special arrangement made for the late-night shows, and the writers have made this agreement to let the late night shows to come back on, so I don't anticipate that it's crossing a picket line," said Huckabee.

"I support the writers, by the way. Unequivocally, absolutely. They're dead right on this one. And they ought to get royalties off the residuals and the long-term contracts. I don't think anybody supports the producers on this one. Maybe the producers support the producers, but I think everybody in the business and even the general public supports the writers."

However, when the reporters told Huckabee he was incorrect and the WGA had only made a separate deal with David Letterman's company - and not the Tonight Show - Huckabee pled ignorance: "But my understanding is there's a sort of dispensation given to the late-night shows, is that right?"

Uh...no.

And when the reporters tried yet again to tell Huckabee he was flat out wrong? His response: "Hmmm. Oh."

So he knew. And not just from the reporters. UH.com has confirmed that members of Huckabee's staff were in contact with Guild officials while Huckabee was on the NBC lot - but before the Tonight Show taping started. To again explain the situation and clear up any "confusion" Huckabee had. To make it crystal clear that he was indeed crossing a picket line (all this is in addition to Guild members having discussions with Huckabee's communications director a day earlier, giving him plenty of time to "understand" the situation and change his plans).

But to no avail.

Apparently "unequivocally" and "absolutely" don't mean what they used to. Or perhaps "this show has an agreement, this show doesn't" is really, really, really confusing. Unlike less complicated issues such as foreign policy and the economy.

UPDATE: FCC Continues to Push Media Consolidation - Act Now!

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin seems dead set on pushing through a wildly unpopular media consolidation policy that would allow media moguls to gobble up more local news, radio, and newspaper outlets. The American people aren't happy about it, and neither are many leading politicians.

How, you ask, is this directly related to the writer's strike against the giant media conglomerates? This policy would consolidate more power in the hands of few. There is already too much media consolidation, too much vertical integration, and too much abuse of power by the few who own these companies: Disney, Time Warner, Viacom, New Corp., GE, Sony...



To read posts and conversations from Sen. Kerry and Rep. Louise Slaughter regarding their disappointment with Martin's actions, check out:
http://freepress.net/actionnetwork/node/335

And to sign a petition urging your Senators and Representatives to ask Congress to stop media consolidation,
click here.

Just the Facts, Ma'am: AMPTP Causing Havoc to SoCal Economy

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:
The MPAA wasn't able to attend, but they did prepare a statement to be read into the record. Now the facts start to get really interesting. Here are the salient facts from the MPAA's statement:

From our member companies' perspective, the most immediate impact has been felt in television production. Production, which has stopped, hurts the men and women who depend on that production for their livelihood.

Hmmm. That second sentence. Probably a typo, but still, an interesting Freudian slip.

The strike has forced our members to shut production of 74 television series, and consequently, nearly 10,000 workers are out of work.

Other entertainment guild and union production employees have not been receiving paychecks for many weeks, which is especially difficult as we enter the holiday season. Those employees are the men and women who belong to the Directors Guild of America, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, Screen Actors Guild, Teamsters and the Basic Crafts Unions including plumbers, electricians, and laborers.

The reduction in employment represents a loss of wages upwards of $350 million since the strike began. We estimate $120 million to WGA members, $205 million to IATSE members in the Los Angeles area alone, and $50 million to the Teamsters and other Basic Craft unions.

The economic consequences of the strike cannot be measured solely by wages. In addition to lost wages are the costs from the lack of sales of goods and services that go into production, which is an estimated additional $300 million. It also means that scores of other businesses from prop houses to caterers that serve productions daily in Los Angeles have also had to lay off employees.

Each day the strike continues, more people and more businesses are impacted - more layoffs and more lost revenue...

That's a lot of facts about the impact that the strike has had. Facts that make it hard for the AMPTP to justify staying away from the table over a contract for a mere $150 million dollars over three years.

But you know what's not in those facts? Defense or blame. And isn't that interesting? Wouldn't you think the representative of the AMPTP would take every opportunity to defend its sister association's righteous position and condemn the WGA before the LA City Council? Unless, of course, they don't want to.

Emails Flood City Councilmembers -- Time to Do More!

Thank you for your overwhelming support in our email campaign earlier this week – councilmembers collectively received thousands of emails, and our work had a very real impact.

Now they know that people are engaged and paying attention, and we need to let them know our involvement is serious and ongoing. Although the special motion does not compel the AMPTP to come to the table, it becomes part of a “paper trail” that shows the AMPTP’s behavior, which will matter as we go up the political food chain (Congressional hearings, anyone?)

We're making a difference, and we need your help to keep it going.

Please send two emails – one to City Council President Eric Garcetti, and one (or more) to any of the listed Councilmembers below. Please send it today, before everyone is gone for the holidays.

CUT AND PASTE THIS EMAIL:

Dear Councilmember [choose from Eric Garcetti, Herb Wesson, Bill Rosendahl, Tom Labonge, Richard Alarcon, Janice Hahn, Wendy Greuel, Tony Cardenas, Greg Smith]:

I’m writing to express my gratitude to you for passing the special motion encouraging the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to return to the negotiating table with the Writers' Guild of America. I deeply appreciate your support and your recognition of the impact this strike and the AMPTP's refusal to negotiate is having on the City of Los Angeles and the State of California.

The AMPTP’s refusal to even attend the City Council meeting is very disturbing. It is unacceptable for the AMPTP to refuse to bargain when the strike is costing the economy $20 million a day, at a time when budget shortfalls and the mortgage crisis are already putting a strain on California’s economy.

To give the WGA everything it’s currently asking for would cost Sony $1.68 million a year; Paramount and CBS $4.66 million a year; Disney $6.25 million per year; Warner Brothers, $11.2 million per year; Fox $6.04 million per year; NBC/Universal $7.44 million per year; and MGM $320,000 per year.

The corporations are given tax breaks and huge incentives from California and Los Angeles, all of which are underwritten by taxpayers. The amounts they are being asked to pay yearly are small – Les Moonves guaranteed salary alone is twenty-one times what it would cost for his company, CBS, to settle the strike. For these corporations to put our economy in jeopardy just so they can avoid paying a fair wage is irresponsible and unfair.

All writers want is fair compensation for their work. I hope for your continued support to get the AMPTP to come back to the table, and negotiate a fair and just resolution to this strike.

Thank you,

[insert your name here]


EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR COUNCILMEMBERS:

LA City Council President Eric Garcetti -- councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org

Councilmember Herb Wesson --
councilmember.wesson@lacity.org

Councilmember Bill Rosendahl --
councilmember.rosendahl@lacity.org

Councilmember Tom Labonge --
councilmember.labonge@lacity.org

Councilmember Richard Alarcon --
mailto:--mcouncilmember.alarcon@lacity.org

Councilmember Janice Hahn --
councilmember.hahn@lacity.org

Councilmember Wendy Greuel --
councilmember.greuel@lacity.org

Councilmember Tony Cardenas --
councilmember.cardenas@lacity.org

Councilmember Greig Smith --
councilmember.smith@lacity.org