What Are We Striking For?

Reading through the comments to many of the blogs, there are some of you who ask why are we striking?

To Julian and Mercutio who asked that question in a recent posting, I'd like to recommend that you look at the video called "Why We Fight"; the link is on our main page.

Simply put, we want to be paid for what we create. The producers don't want to pay us.

As with every union, we're negotiating a 'minimum wage' for all the members.

In the recently concluded United Auto Workers' agreements, they have specifics in their contract covering the minimum wages for different jobs and they have health and welfare provisions that protect every worker.

All those agreements have one idea in common: you work, you get paid. All companies are in business to make money. They hire workers to help them do that.

The same is true in our business. There's 'glamor' associated with our product, but that shouldn't cloud the issue. We're hired because we help the companies make money. We're paid because we work.

Writers, actors, and directors (and there are others too) are paid in two ways: 'up-front' when the work is completed and 'deferred' later when the product we've created makes more money for the company, usually because it was sold into a new market.

One of the key provisions of the current negotiation is based on that simple fact: we're paid for our work in television or a film; now that work is being sold on the internet, so there should be a formula that calculates that additional payment.

If you have the time to watch "Why We Fight" and still have questions, please let us know. We're trying to find the best way to explain our position and we'd like your help.