Thursday, October 11, 2007

Writers Scribbling in Other Jurisdictions

So I walk into one of our signator studios and happen on a studio lawyer, who says to me: "I hear that the WGA told agents that if their writers haven't written animation before, they can't start writing it during a WGA strike."

This seems pretty forceful to me, but what do I know? It's another labor organization enforcing its internal rules and policies. I'm not exactly sure how the WGA knows which of its members has written animation in the past, and which hasn't, but I guess they can ask.

When I get back to the office in late afternoon, Variety calls for reaction about the Writers Guild prohibiting screenwriters from working on animated features:

The WGA's effort to ban work for fully animated features is likely to be controversial, since nearly all of the work in that area is covered through a different union -- the Animation Guild, which operates as Local 839 of the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees. The WGA's asserting that its members can't perform new work for feature animation, including negotiating for new work, on any project even if the producers' deal is through the IATSE.

Lots of things go through my head, like: "What would Larry Clemmons have done back in 1961, when he left the WGA to work on animated features before a strike?" And "What would I have done?" since I worked in animated features for ten years, without benefit of WGA membership (there was a WGA strike during my time at Disney) ...

...[A] draft recap of the WGA rules said the guild plans to prohibit any writing for new media and declare that writers can't do animated features -- even though that realm is not under WGA jurisdiction.

The WGA didn't specify what the penalties would be for violating the rules. It's also asserting that nonmembers who perform banned work during a strike will be barred from joining the [Writers] [G]uild in the future.

I like to think I would have had the wherewithal to keep my job, and not been intimidated by a labor union to which I had never belonged. But, I don't know. Maybe I would have wimped out and knuckled under.

In any event, this is what I told Daily Variety Wedensday afternoon:

"Any union can discipline their members for violations of internal rules and policy. But I can't imagine our union [TAG] attempting to prevent someone from joining and working for another union. So good luck to them."

Wimpish.

Update: I've gotten input from various lawyers -- some solicited by me, some not -- and the consensus seems to be: "Kinda illegal to interfere with people's right to work under another union..."

But at this point, all is hearsay, conjecture and nothing substantive has happened, so I'm just going to lie here in the weeds and await developments.

Update II: IA President Tom Short has now written WGAw President Patrick Verrone over disciplining animation writers:

"It was reported today in Variety that the WGAw is considering discipline against members who work under IATSE Animation Guild agreements. The Animation Guild has represented animation writers for 55 years. I consider it outrageous for the WGAw to consider violating trade union principles by taking action against individuals performing services under the jurisdiction of another union.

"If the WGAw follows through with this threat, the IATSE is prepared to take legal action against the individuals and institutions involved."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting thoughts since WGA writers don't seem to consider us animation scribes as bonafied. Yet, they're willing to drop to "our level" in order to pull down a paycheck.

Something about that bothers me.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I wonder if Ford executives tell Chevrolet workers how to build Chevy cars...

Anonymous said...

Something about that bothers me.

Ditto.

WGA could care less about animation writers at any other time. But just watch their panties get all bunched up if their current AND future members (how dare they!) slip across the border to work in TAG country during the Revolution.

Pull your collective heads out of your butts and make up your minds, WGA. Either you welcome and honor the craft of animation scriptwriting or you don't. Can't just pick-n-choose when it suits your political whims.

(And congrats to Mr. Norman on his Disney Legend Award yesterday! Was it a nice ceremony?)

Anonymous said...

Considering President Short's statements, does that open the door for Local 839 animation writers to write for the animated prime time comedies?

Steve Hulett said...

There's a misconception that I'd like to help clarify.

I hear people say: "The IA-839 has control of feature animation." Also, "The WGA has control of prime time animation."

Uh, no.

If the WGA, TAG, or some other union has a contract that covers animation writers, live-action writers or whomever, then they have contracts that cover that work.

Today, TAG reps most of the story work in feature animation. But not all of it. The recently released Simpsons Movie was written under a WGA contract.

Today, the WGA reps the writers on Fox prime time shows. But TAG had a contract that covered writers under DreamWorks's prime time Father of the Pride.

No union "controls" anything in perpetuity. A union either has a contract that covers certain work, or it doesn't.

If, say, the pipe fitters union collected rep cards and won an NLRB election with artists and writers at a cartoon studio, and then successfully negotiated a contract, then the pipe fitters union would "control" the story work, script through boards, at that studio.

Anonymous said...

I think the word you're looking for is "jurisdiction".

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