Breaking in

[David Mullen ASC]

That's a midreading of labor law in this country. The law may say that a normal work week is 40 hours but the union is the one that makes overtime pay a requirement above 40 hours.

 

If the government DID get up and start governing more, we might not need unions, but that's never going to happen because politicians are funded by big business and anything like, let's say, universal health coverage, is accused of being a commie idea. This is what really kills me -- the anti-government regulation rhetoric of conservatives ultimately leads to MORE problems for big business, not less. Most of the labor conflicts in this country are over health coverage, because someone decided that health coverage should be a big private business in this country, that private ownership of every public need, from power to water to healthcare, was a good thing. So now companies are being crushed by the weight of providing health care coverage to their employees, so their only (understandable) solution is to cut benefits.

 

Something as empheral as a private company should not be responsible for people's healthcare or retirement. Yet now there's still talk by Bush about moving Social Security funds into the stock market... If we could only have a SANE discussion in this country about the proper relationship between the public and the private sector, maybe business would be better off. But instead everything is seen through the distorted lens that the private sector knows best.

 

Besides, it's because of the government that we have unions, who basically passed laws to keep companies from persecuting people who organized.

 

In the 1930's, the studios asked Roosevelt for exeemption from anti-trust laws that would keep them from owning the whole chain of production to exhibition, and Roosevelt caved in only on the grounds that the studios allow unions. After his death, when the government shifted to the right, the Supreme Court ruled that ownership of the theater chains -- called vertical integration -- was a violation of anti-trust laws and the studios had to divest themselves of ownership.

 

Of course, THESE days it's hard to figure out what would get the government to step in and stop a monopoly...

 

We're been sliding back to a 19th century form of laissez-faire capitalism in this country where basically anything a corporation wants to do, it can get away with until the public outcry is too great. If government regulation exists that makes working conditions good in this country, why is it that people are still forming new unions all the time?

[Mitch Gross]

You tell 'em David--get it off your chest. I don't want this to collapse into a Democrat v. Republican discussion or Liberal v. Conservative, especially when I think it would be so one-sided by the vast majority of posters here. But we must remember that a film production is a classic example of a Management & Labor situation, no matter how many people want to idealize it into some "filmmakers collective" concept. Management reaps the end benefit while labor toils away to make it happen, so therefore management should provide for the labors while they work to the management's eventual benefit. And that's what unions are there to make sure happens.

 

Phil, I know England is a very different place than the US, but's it's not a different planet all together. I don't think you can realistically or historically justify your statements with any great veracity. They're just not realistic. Read "The Jungle."

 

Last year I had some meetings with a first time producer/director with very Republican/conservative views. He went on about how he didn't feel that it was his responsibility to have to provide healthcare for everyone else whether it was through taxes or any other way. People should be go out and earn money to provide for themselves. Five minutes later he was telling me how he didn't want to pay anyone on his four week, six days per week feature more than $100/day. I guess in his mind film crews didn't deserve healthcare in any way if it was going to be on his dime.

[Taggart Lee]

How long is a day? 12 hours at least. At $75 a day that's $6.25/hr. At what point do we qualify for a livable wage? Before or after we read 'Painting with Light'? ;)

 

I've done the 22 hr music video marathons in the desert and they were tolerated, you did what you had to do for a couple of days. But on day 6 of week 4 of 6?...NO. As schedules get tighter and tighter, unions help to keep producers honest and crews safe. As a DP I'm responsible for the safety of my crew. And at hour 16 I start to think about drive/turnaround time. Regardless of what we HAVE to get or whether it's a feature or student film. Besides, lack of planning on productions part does not constitute lack of saftey or commonsense on my part.

 

I spent a while tonight speaking with a former Vons employee who's watching his union and his livelyhood go down the tubes thanks to the greedy few who've made demonizing unions a spectator sport in the name of their bottom line. In our business too, unions are a necessity. Right to work? Fine. You also have the right to a decent wage, health care, and safety while you're busting your ass getting a (hopefully) good story told.

 

We're freelancers doing a job that requires a lot of sacrifices until the job is finished. It costs.

 

Taggart Lee

[Nate Downes]

As an ameteur wishing to get into indies, there's no clear guide to that either. Guess I need to find someone willing to take a chance on my portfolio. (the fact I own my own cameras might help)

[Mario Jimenez]

Hi all i am a newbie in this from Panama yes Panam in Central America, as for what ive been reading here its amazing to know some lil bit about how the industry goes over there in its core...yes we are "3rd world workforce", as some of you kindly noted but there is a running film/vid industry here mainly on the Commercial biz, and we have often wondered if there is necessary or really important to have a Union, i think from our PoV that it is only for having protection-job recognition for Out of Town gigs, but then what is the use of having one if it only works a couple times a year? What are Unions / what do they do in this industry, if you could shed some light on the subject and its repercutions, it would be really helpful, thanks!

[David Mullen ASC]

The basic core of what a union does is called "collective bargaining", the concept being that a group of workers negotiating as one entity for salary, benefits, workplace conditions, etc. will be more effective than individuals bargaining separately. But historically new unions tend not to form except under times of stress when enough workers feel exploited by management to risk losing their job rather be exploited any further. Doesn't sound like you guys are at that stage...

[Eric Steelberg ASC]

Unions are a necessity for the business and whether you like it on not, are in it or not, it benefits everyone because it creates a standard of work to be measured by. If there was no union $75/day might sound fine to more people. Productions that are non signatory usually follow at least some union rules..at least in my experience. Otherwise productions are forced to use lesser experienced people who are willing to put up with worse working conditions whose lack of skills and or experience adversely affect production.

 

I disagree that the Union (Local 600 at least) makes it hard for anyone to get in ans causes more of a division. They set the requirements based on an expected skill level which they have dtermined comes from a certain number of days on a certain kind of production. If someone has the skill to keep getting work in the camera dep't. then meeting the requirements shouldn't be a problem.

 

And for the record I'm not in it because I have had no need to be, though I'll probably be forced onto the commercial roster soon. But I strongly believe in it's purpose.