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What Killed the Blue-Collar Struggle for Social Justice
"One of the biggest takeaways from the experience was that some of the most consequential battles in the fight for social justice took place on factory floors, not college campuses. For many Americans without college degrees, who make up two-thirds of adults in the country, the labor movement, the civil rights movement and the women’s liberation movement largely boiled down to one thing: access to well-paying factory jobs."
"In many ways, the decline in American manufacturing hit Black people the hardest. According to a 2018 study of the impact of manufacturing employment on Black and white Americans from 1960 through 2010, the decline in manufacturing contributed to a 12 percent overall increase in the racial wage gap for men. When you follow a dying factory up close, it’s easy to see how globalization left a growing group of people competing for a shrinking pool of good factory jobs. Affirmative action becomes more fraught as good jobs get scarce and disappear."
"...The fate of our democracy does not depend on them the way it hinges on voters like Shannon, Wally and John. The American experiment is unraveling. The only way to knit it back together is for decision makers in this country, nearly all of whom have college degrees, to reconnect with those of the working class, who make up a majority of voters."
The New York Times, October 7, 2021: "What Killed the Blue-Collar Struggle for Social Justice," by Farah Stockman
The New York Times, October 12, 2021: "When a Factory Relocates to Mexico, What Happens to Its American Workers?" by Richard Davies
Photo Source: Pop & Zebra. (2019). Construction Helmets [Photograph]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/wp81DxKUd1E
Remember that the laws establishing and protecting the rights of unions were a shaky truce made by governments afraid of being overthrown. They’re a way to pacify unions, give them what they want so they don’t get angry enough to start burning shit again
Those laws aren’t what makes unions possible, viable, or effective. Those laws exist because unions were so effective even without them
People act like they can’t unionize just because they live in America, or their state is Right to Work, or the company they work for is notoriously anti-union. But labor movements survived periods of being literally mowed down with machine guns by the US Army - so we don’t need to be scared off by a few posters
The fundamental power of a union comes from the fact that we outnumber them, and that the workplace doesn’t move without our labor. That power doesn’t need to be permitted and can’t be legislated away. So join a damn union!
I’m just imagining some farmer trying to fix his combine in 2023, saying “I don’t know why it won’t work, it’s only 2 years old,” and then they open up the engine and the dusty hand bones of a middle manager fall out.
have now seen multiple posts abt cancelling streaming subscriptions in support of iatse, but also have seen multiple posts with conflicting information about when to cancel them, how long to cancel them, which sites specifically, etc etc
now, i am not an iatse member (fingers crossed for the future tho lol), but it sorta... didn't seem like the ppl making those posts were either. the lack of unity in the message, among other things.
so i looked up the iatse strike and specifically for announcements and news articles wrt cancelling streaming subscriptions:
hey look at that, they have a toolkit
as of right now (round about 12:30 am est, 10/15/21) the main action they are asking for is to sign the petition. also, to actively spread the word and show support on social media (seems mainly angled toward twitter so may not be usable here but still good to have, and oh look they also have a twitter where you can keep up with the latest news, like the bullshit happening in response to the strike)
does this mean don't cancel any of your subscriptions? not necessarily! some iatse members, independently, have decided to cancel their own subscriptions, so you're most likely not hurting the movement if you do, and you might even help! (might i suggest making it very clear to the website you're cancelling your subscription to about why you are cancelling it? fill out the 'why are you leaving us' questionnaire. send an email. that is only a suggestion as an individual tho, again this is not something the union has requested, this is mostly me being paranoid bcos u kno how companies like to come up with reasons they lost membership lol.)
but mmmmmaybe uh. maybe prioritize the things the union has asked people to do. bcos most of those posts i saw didn't even mention the petition, and not one linked to the official iatse toolkit with the like, official hashtags they're using to draw attention to this.
Negotiations to prevent a strike that could bring the film and television production business to its knees are going down to the wire. Matthew Loeb, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage E…
Here we go… IATSE has officially set a strike date of Monday, October 18 @ 12:01 AM.
Which means if an agreement is not reached by then, 60,000 union members will initiate a strike.
Key demands:
- 10 hour turn around between shifts for all workers (i.e. you’re off the clock for 10 full hours before you have to be back to work, allowing for commutes home and a full 8 hours of rest - but even still, think about that. If you have to drive 45 mins - 1hr home, a common commute in areas like LA, Atlanta, and New York, then you have EXACTLY 8 hours to eat, sleep, and see your family)
- 54 hour turn around on the weekends (film work frequently bleeds over into Saturdays “Fraturdays” - leaving even less time for a personal life).
- Increased meal penalties (productions currently can pay extra to skip stopping for lunch breaks and they’d often rather do that, so the hope is that forcing them to pay more money will incentivize them to actually do lunch breaks). Imagine having to work 14+ hours with no break for a meal because production would rather just pay extra money than stop filming.
- Better pay - the contracts currently in negotiation include what is currently categorized as “new media” - think streaming channels like Netflix & Hulu. When these contracts were originally made, streaming WAS new and nobody was sure what it’s profits would look like so IATSE agreed to let these shows pay less to workers. But they are now the major form of media and HIGHLY profitable so wages should be upgraded to reflect this.
Still waiting to hear from my union (OPEIU - clerks working alongside production) how we’re going to be handling this. They’ve only said vaguely “don’t cross the picket line” without explaining what that means when your job site (a major motion picture studio) is likely to be picketed.
At any rate, I’m in full support of IATSE - people need regulated work hours & turn around times and better pay. For every 12-14 hour day I worked just as background, that meant many other people were working 14-16 hour days - which is just crazy because that doesn’t account for any commute (anywhere from 15 mins to 2 hours drive time some days). There are so many missed life moments and family time for film people. On top of that, just pure exhaustion - there have been countless stories of people falling asleep at the wheel and being hurt or dying because of film work commutes.
Entertainment is costing people their lives literally and metaphorically - and it’s just not worth that.
Stay tuned for what you can do to support the strike.
Negotiations to prevent a strike that could bring the film and television production business to its knees are going down to the wire.
Matthew Loeb, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, said early Wednesday that unless an agreement is reached, 60,000 union members will begin a nationwide strike against the major studios on Oct. 18 at 12:01 a.m. Such a work stoppage would be catastrophic, halting production across the U.S.
Union members are demanding better hours and working conditions, saying that the surge in production over the past decade has led to long hours and dangerous situations on set.
Loeb said the union will continue bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers this week in the hopes of reaching an agreement that addresses core issues. The unions are seeking a 10-hour turnaround between shifts for all workers, as well as a 54-hour turnaround on weekends. They are also seeking increased meal penalties, as a way to force productions to stop for lunch, and an end to discounted rates for streaming services.
“The pace of bargaining doesn’t reflect any sense of urgency,” Loeb said. “Without an end date, we could keep talking forever. Our members deserve to have their basic needs addressed now.”
An AMPTP spokesman said in a statement that the studios will stay at the bargaining table in hopes of avoiding a strike.
“There are five days left to reach a deal, and the studios will continue to negotiate in good faith in an effort to reach an agreement for a new contract that will keep the industry working,” the spokesman said.
The two sides returned to the bargaining table on Oct. 5, a day after IATSE announced the results of a strike authorization vote. The vote passed overwhelmingly with 98.7% support and 90% turnout. The studios presented a new proposal, offering 10-hour turnarounds for all productions and a provision for weekend rest. The union presented a counteroffer during a long session on Saturday, according to sources.
On Tuesday night, however, the union leadership reported that the studios appeared to be digging in their heels. “In the wake of the overwhelming strike authorization vote, the employers repeatedly refuse to do what it will take to achieve a fair deal,” Cathy Repola, the national executive director of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, said in an email to members.
IATSE has received broad public support from other entertainment industry unions and members of Congress, among others.
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler vowed to bring broader labor resources to the table should IATSE take the step of going on strike.
“We will stand with them in solidarity. We will use the full breadth and power of the labor movement to make sure that these companies are feeling the pain,” Shuler said. “And we have lots of levers that we can use in the labor movement, whether it’s the bully pulpit, whether it’s using our shareholder capital strategies lever, or just getting those bodies out in the streets to support them.”
where are you getting information about cancelling streaming service subscriptions? i'd like to know more about specific dates etc, and i can't find anything on iatse's website.
hi! yeah, so a number of places. both sides of my family are from LA and i’ve lived there off and on for years, so i have a lot of family, friends, family of friends, etc. in the industry. my work is also adjacent to the industry in LA. so about half of it has been coming from those folks, and the other, from film industry ppl/IATSE members on social media.
here are a few folks i follow on tiktok who have been making videos explaining what’s going on and answering questions (don’t knock it, tiktok is a super helpful and easy way for folks to spread the word about things like this): snackslut / officialtoca / but also just check out the #iatse and #iasolidarity tags on platforms like tiktok!
the streaming subscription cancellation isn’t officially endorsed by IATSE as of right now, likely bc they’re trying to negotiation still before the strike begins on monday at noon. initially a lot of folks figured cancelling subscriptions anytime between when the strike was announced and when it would start, would help give IATSE negotiating power with the producers by showing them how much support they have and that the threat of losing large amounts of subscribers is very real. however, since part of how these streaming companies “rationalize” that they can underpay crews for streaming shows and movies, is by saying the streaming model is unstable and whatnot. so, large drops in subscribers during the negotiations, could potentially be used against IATSE bc there’s no way the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Production (AMPTP) is arguing in good faith.
but even though the streaming subscription cancellation thing isn’t officially endorsed by IATSE as of now, film industry ppl and IATSE members have been saying that’s one of the major ways you can support them. i’ve also seen folks say you can just call the streaming companies like netflix, apple, hbo, etc. and threaten to cancel your subscription in support of IATSE, if you’re not able to actually cancel one.
now it’s just about if and when. remember that the strike and subsequent boycotts are only happening if the AMPTP and IATSE don’t reach a deal by monday, the 18th at 12 p.m. PT. if they do, no strike. if they don’t, IATSE will officially begin their strike on monday afternoon. that’s when we can begin boycotting by cancelling subscriptions to streaming services.
the international alliance of theatrical stage employees (the union for movie and tv production workers) starts striking monday, oct 18. cancel your streaming services.
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