Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008 - 1:07 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008 - 1:07 a.m.
So, throughout the writers' strike, the WGA has been sending me emails containing little tidbits like the following, all of which are directly lifted from the emails I received and signed by the union president.

October 24, 2007:
Dear Reality Story Producers,
(hmmm...i am neither writer nor storyteller, but a producer. I'm not sure what to make of that...)

There is an article in today's Variety written by Dave McNary titled, "Reality in Check: WGA Gives Up on Nonscripted Effort." The article makes a number of baseless assertions, including that our reality organizing campaign has ended and that WGA negotiators in our current MBA bargaining have decided to drop our reality proposal. I am writing to assure you that these assertions are patently false.
...
The WGAW continues to be committed to organizing reality.
...
I cannot guarantee you that we will achieve all of our goals at the bargaining table, or that our reality television organizing campaign will meet with rapid success; but I can give you my word that this Variety article does not represent the position of the WGAW or our Negotiating Committee. It is my hope that this article, and others like it that may appear, will only serve to unite writers against employers who want to deny them the ability to share in this growing global business. We are all in this together.

Pretty straightforward, right? "We're dedicated to the rights of *all* writers, fiction and non-fiction, scripted and unscripted, and we got your back, even if you aren't allowed to join our union, so don't let nasty little rumors like this get to you. Afterall, 'we are all in this together'. Plus, we REALLY need you not to be working right now."

November 21, 2007:
As our strike progresses we wanted to send you an update and make sure you knew that if you support the WGA and support the ongoing effort to win a fair contract for reality story producers � please come join us on the picket lines. As you may know our demand to cover reality story producers is still on the table. When we return Monday for our next scheduled bargaining session we will be seeking contract language that addresses the non-union status of reality story producers.

In other words, we're fighting for you, too, so please lend us a hand, because the producers' union doesn't seem to feel very threatened, and we don't want them to just go back to reality programming, so we need a little help. Notice I'm back to being a producer. One who produces. Not one who, oh, I don't know, WRITES. Still, it's a reasonable request. (right?) (btw, a story producer is more or less the person who supervises the writing/story team, who are the story editors.)

One week later, on November 28, I got the results of a survey I participated in regarding the unfair treatment of reality story employees and how none of us make overtime or get paid for all our work, unlike WGA members, who do... It doesn't really go into fun things like residuals, but whatever. I blogged it here at the time.

December 4, 2007:
To My Fellow Writers,
(notice how I'm suddenly a "fellow *writer*," now that the strike isn't going so awesomely.)

As you know, the WGA strike has revealed an unprecedented solidarity, not only among WGA members, but with members of other guilds, other unions, and the public at large.

But that solidarity has not been in evidence with the community of reality storytellers.
(uh-oh, back to storyteller again. i'm in truuuuuublle...)

Whatever our past differences and mutual disappointments, this fight is yours as much as it is ours. It�s yours because you are television writers. It�s yours because jurisdiction over reality has been and remains on the MBA bargaining table. It�s yours because this fight represents the fight of all American workers for a fair deal.

Those "past differences" would be when the union members voted not to classify story editors as writers on accounta how we don't "write" anything. (By WGA standards, "writing" means making up sentences for actors to say and set designers to follow, and apparently nothing else.) When *I* don't get paid overtime or a union wage, no one but me and my fellow unpaid "storytellers" strike, which goes mostly unnoticed, on accounta we aren't members of a big union and have no collective bargaining power, so the production company just hires scabs to finish the show...where's the guild and its legions of supportive fellow writers then? Oh, wait, that's right...WORKING FOR UNION WAGES, GETTING PAID OVERTIME, AND COLLECTING BENEFITS LIKE HEALTH INSURANCE. Oh. Yeah.

The email goes on to say, Show the producers and the companies they work for, that as reality writers, you are legitimate members of Hollywood�s creative community, and your work is not simply a weapon to be used against your colleagues. I give you my word that the WGAW continues to be committed to organizing reality, and I urge you to stand with us, now. We are all in this together.

And I'm a writer again. One who is apparently dropping the ball by not striking with all my fellow UNIONIZED writers. In other words, "You reality people are hurting our collective bargaining ability, so cut it the hell out right now, damn it. We NEED you not to work. Sure, we know you don't get any support from the union for not working, but come ON. Barnes & Noble pays well. So does McDonald's. $8/hour is legitimate money; you can pay rent with that while you're not actually making a living. STRIKE WITH US, DAMN YOU, WE CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU."

December 25, I get an update about how for the First Time Evar, the WGA is working to get producers to actually acknowledge story editors as actual writers, not post production staff members. In layman's terms, that means that I'd have a shot at some overtime, which is already mine by California law, but which I have never gotten. EVAR. Mostly on accounta I have no collective bargaining power and no one else cares, and by the time I sunk a lot of time/effort/money into a lawsuit over it, I'd be broke and blacklisted, so it's best just to save the ranting for the drive home and move the hell on.

January 16, 2008:
WGA ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: ACTION MEETING ALERT
WHAT: Open meeting for all reality, game show and nonfiction writers
WHEN: Saturday, January 19th
...
At this meeting, you will hear important information such as:
Statement of support from WGA leadership
...
This meeting is for ALL writers-- you do not have to be a WGA member to attend. Please spread the word to anyone who wants to learn more about this critical campaign to win industry-standard benefits for all writers.

So I'm still a writer, and this time I'm joined by gameshow people and the people who actually do write scripts with lines for actors to say, but they do it for basic cable television shows like City Confidential (just to pick a name out of the air) and other low-budget, documentary-style programming for networks like CourtTV and Oxygen.

All of which brings me to today. And the reason I'm pissed off enough to post all of this online:

Dear Reality Storyteller,
(And i'm a storyteller once more - that can't possibly be good.)

As you have probably heard, the WGA Negotiating Committee decided today to remove our proposals for reality and animation jurisdiction from the negotiating table. This was an extremely difficult decision to make, but we felt it was a necessary step in our effort to achieve the best possible deal with the AMPTP, and to bring the strike to a swift conclusion.

And then blah blah blah, this in no way means we don't care - we organized a committee, and those guys *totally* have you covered.

In other words, "We're hungry. We want our jobs back. This strike didn't go quite like we planned, and it's time to get back to our desks for the fall season, before the networks program a bunch of reality stuff and game shows. (Because I mean, seriously, how much Howie Mandell, Drew Carey, and Gene Simmons can we be expected to take? Seriously.) And I mean, come on, you guys aren't even writers. You're just �storytellers.� Pff. I mean, how hard can THAT be? So even though we told you guys the whole time about how we got your backs and stuff, that was just so you'd help a brother out by not working. That didn't really go over well, what with the networks just going with reruns and not even kicking into high gear with the reality stuff, so yeah, um, you know, we have kids to feed and mortgages and all that, so well, um, we're just, you know, tossing you guys to the lions. We're cool, though, right? I mean, come on, dudes, this strike's been going on for like what, 4 months, almost? Our friends are starting to hurt too, and blaming us for striking and how their kids didn't get to go to Maui over Christmas because nobody's shooting anything and this town's a ghost town of non-work, and that was cool when the producers were the bad guys, but now people are starting to look at us funny, and well, that just doesn't work for us. So no offense, but we have to look out for our unionized asses. No hard feelings though. You guys rule. No really. You do. Just not for fair pay or with health insurance. But um, we�ve formed a committee to look into that, and we'll get it taken care of. You know. Someday."

Nice, huh?

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