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.