Freelancers Striking - More News

The situation between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is bad. The two hit an impasse, with the latter demanding that the former withdraw some demands if negotiation was going to continue at all, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The hard line stance of the WGA apparently isn't only about Web rights, but about getting jurisdiction over reality tv and animation writing, two areas that have been beyond its pervue. This may be a key negotiating blunder. Broadening jurisdiction is contentious. Getting online residuals is contentious. Trying for both of them at the same time may have been enough for the producers to say, "Fine, we're going to take our ball and go home." Both sides are butting heads, trading heated news releases, and it's unclear when they might go back to talking.

I support the WGA, but do wonder whether the approach is the most practical and effective in the long term. They might have used one thing as a trade for another. Yes, they'd like to cover reality tv and animation, but so far as I know, they never have before. On the other hand, the online issues are facing their current membership now, and would seem to be far more important in the short and long run. Standing on principle is important, and it's important to know the difference between a principle and a wish list. I wish both sides good luck in coming to some agreement and getting everyone back to work.

The other news on the freelance strike front comes from MTV Networks, where freelance workers walked off the job because of changes in health and dental benefits. I don't think these people are writers, but I can imagine readers of this blog scratching their heads. Health? Dental? Yup - it's called permalancing. The company categorizes people as freelance workers, and yet provides benefits, controls their hours, and otherwise treats them as employees. This could turn out to be a much bigger problem than MTV and parent Viacom are expecting. This story ran in the New York Times, and my guess is that members of the IRS and New York's department of revenue are all reading it. They don't like when companies try to get out of managing withholding, their share of FICA, and other niceties of corporate existence. The IRS went after Microsoft on similar issues and won, and I wonder just how much more than the price of benefits this might run Viacom.