@At-Will Employee:

As mentioned in other posts, no one worries about these people when a network cancels a show. In fact, often viewers beg for the cancellation of shows they don't like or bet on which new shows they hope will fail, even though such cancellations mean 100 or so people will be laid off.

It's tragic when anyone becomes unemployed. I hope that the crew members will be able to stretch the money they get from unemployment and the Solidarity Fund for them that the WGA set up. The Office hires union crew members, so I also hope their union is helping them during this difficult time.

But I don't think it is unfair for the writers to strike just because other people will be affected. While I could believe that the lowest paid crew member makes half of what the lowest paid writer makes, I also believe that the jobs cannot be directly compared because they utilize entirely different skill sets.

Steve Carrell makes about 64 times more than a writer on his show, but I doubt anyone would suggest that both the star and the writers and the crew members should all be paid equally.

Again, it is tragic when a strike becomes necessary. My hope is that it is resolved quickly, and I still do not believe that the writers had no business striking.

Hello all,

If you can tell me how fair this WGA is after reading this...

I don't know what else to say.

The LA Times just published the following email from Dale Alexander, a key grip on The Office, which puts the severity of this strike into perspective.

It reads:

“Our show was shut down and we were all laid off this week. I’ve been watching the news since the WGA strike was announced and I have yet to see any coverage dedicated to the effect that this strike will have on the below the line employees.

I respect the WGA’s position. They probably do deserve a larger percentage of profit participation, but a lengthy strike will affect more than just the writers and studios. On my show we had 14 writers. There were also 2 cameramen, 2 camera assistants, 4 hair stylists, 4 makeup artists, 7 wardrobe people, 4 grips, 4 electricians, 2 craft service, 4 props people, 6 construction, 1 medic, 3 art department, 5 set dressers, 3 sound men, 3 stand-ins, 2 set PAs, 4 assistant directors, 1 DGA trainee, 1 unit manager, 6 production office personnel, 3 casting people, 4 writers assistants, 1 script supervisor, 2 editors, 2 editors assistants, 3 post production personnel, 1 facilities manager, 8 drivers, 2 location managers, 3 accountants, 4 caterers and a producer who’s not a writer. All 102 of us are now out of work.

I have been in the motion picture business for 33 years and have survived three major strikes. None of which have been by any of the below the line unions. During the 1988 WGA strike many of my friends lost their homes, cars and even spouses. Many actors are publicly backing the writers, some have even said that they would find a way to help pay bills for the striking writers. When the networks run out of new shows and they air repeats the writers will be paid residuals. The lowest paid writer in television makes roughly twice the salary than the below the line crewmember makes. Everyone should be paid their fair share, but does it have to be at the expense of the other 90% of the crewmembers. Nobody ever recoups from a strike, lost wages are just that, lost.

We all know that the strike will be resolved. Eventually both sides will return to the bargaining table and make a deal. The only uncertainty is how many of our houses, livelihoods, college educations and retirement funds will pay for it.”

@kevjohn:

A staff writer on a TV show makes around $60,000 a year or so. Considering the cost of living in LA plus the fact that long hours make it pretty much impossible to hold down a second job, it's not a get-rich-quick job.

The minimum for an original movie script is around $30,000. Considering how long it takes to write one, that's also not a get-rich-quick job.

And during the time in between the staff jobs and the script sales, the writer is still writing full time. He or she just isn't getting paid to do it.

@At-Will Employee:

Writers work all year long whether they are getting paid or not. Scripts don't materialize overnight. They take months or years to write. Many writers are able to hold down some type of job while doing this, but often it's a low-paying job due to their responsibilities to their writing. And if writers didn't devote the months and years necessary to writing, we simple wouldn't have scripts.

Also, I think that even if we had no unions and everyone got paid $5.15 an hour, that's still a lot more than the 25-50 cents an hour American companies typically pay people in China. It may be difficult to compete with that unless we are willing to give up food, shelter, and health care so that we can live on a low enough wage to keep shareholders happy with their checks.

@kevjohn,
I feel that these writers that are not working and not getting paid should... I don't know get a JOB. If they are writer and not making enough, because of the lay offs they should work in the "real world" and maybe they will develop something interesting to write about.

@Steve,
I do think that at one time unions were needed to help workers, but today they just don't work the same way. That is all I am saying. I am just saying we cannot compete in today's global economy, because of our rules and regs. it is actually causing companies to leave our country . I think that this hurts everyone for the few people that have these unions.

To be honest if you do your job and you are good at it... There is nooooooo reason to need a union. BTW I know a lot of people in unions that collect dues and don't help anyone except for the incompitent (sp) workers.

It's my understanding that the writers are well-paid. The working writers that is. Either you're a working writer working on a show and making a whole lot of money (by "whole lot" I mean more than the Average Joe), or you're not writing for a show and you're making little or nothing. You're essentially unemployed. Am I right on that?

If so, then shouldn't the argument that "some writers make a lot of money and some don't" really be "some writers actually have jobs and some don't"?

@ At-Will - Man you're really off track here. If you read Atlas Shrugged, you'll find out that you're the bad guy.

Everyone is out for themselves in this world. The studios will do what is best for themselves at all costs. So must the writers. If the studios can get along fine without writers, that's great, this shouldn't be a big problem for them. But probably they will decide that the writers are a valuable asset that cannot just be replaced. And so they refuse to make more money for the studios to their own detriment.

Unions may not be perfect, but the only reason they exist is to combat corporate greed trumping the welfare of the employee. Corporations necessitated unions with their behavior, and obviously they continue to do so today or the writers would be fairly compensated and not forced to provide scripts which will be replayed online for free forever.

Where do people get the idea that the writers are paid well?
The News.
on the networks.
Not to sound tooooooo paranoid but, come on!
The nets are using the news as a mouthpiece.
Fortunately, this time, the writers have the internet to get their side out.

@This
I only got to maybe your 3rd paragraph. Unions are counter productive in todies economy. IF you don't think so look at how many states operate with a negative budget. Of course we need all of the workers in the fields that you mentioned, but not at the cost that states are accruing. Many of these unions are more corupt than the corporations that you say are so bad.

Answer me this one question. How do you think the USA can compete in the global economy when our competitors don't. Why do you think so many jobs are leaving the US? Because of the residual impact of unions on our bottom line.

BTW if these writers feel that they don't need their studios or producers or whoever they are blaming. Why don't they just take the WGA and distribute their stories they write with their own resources? It is because they can't!

Where do people keep getting "writers get paid a lot"? Sure, the big names get paid a lot, but it's just like the rest of the entertainment industry. A big name actor will get several million for a role, but for every one of them there's a hundred actors working for scale, and that's if they get a role at all. It's the same thing for everyone else.

These links explain the writers' side a little more clearly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ55Ir2jCxk
http://www.triggerstreet.com/gyrobase/TriggerDigest?oid=1237593

The writers are raising money for their Solidarity Fund to help these non-WGA members affected by the strike. I haven't heard of the studios doing anything similar yet.