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Tag: strike

  • This isn’t the first time Hollywood’s been on strike; here’s how past strikes turned out

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: The common refrain is that there’s nothing Hollywood loves so much as its own history — but that’s a history inextricable from its labor movements.

    As the industry comes to a momentous halt courtesy of dual strikes by its actors and screenwriters, it’s worth looking back at the effects of past protests, walkouts and other actions.

    The Screen Actors Guild and the Screen Writers Guild, the forerunner to today’s Writers Guild of America, were each founded in 1933, though threads of collective action and solidarity run to the very beginnings of the motion picture industry.

    At its founding, SAG boasted less than two dozen members. Ninety years later, 65,000 SAG-AFTRA members are on strike (the two actors unions merged in 2012).

    For a few decades, strikes erupted at a regular cadence. The first actors strikes came in the 1950s, and a SWG strike in 1953 secured the first television residuals. But protests largely tapered off by the late 1980s.

    Before 1950, strikes were about basic working conditions, said Kate Fortmueller, associate professor of film and media history at Georgia State University and an expert in Hollywood labour history.

    “Post-1950, the concerns are more about residuals, replays, so like distribution. So it’s less about sort of how we’re working and more about how do we share in the profits that our work continues to generate?” she said. The 2023 strikes, Fortmueller said, marks a return to the more fundamental concerns about working conditions — and existential worries about the industry’s future.

    Throughout it all the guilds have faced essentially the same opponent: the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. First a conglomerate of studio heads, it evolved to include studios and networks, and now boasts streamers and other major production companies, Fortmueller said.

    “These streaming companies have origins in tech. And tech is a very different labor culture than Hollywood, in part because tech is not heavily unionized. And Hollywood has been for almost 100 years,” Fortmueller said, characterizing a major animating factor in AMPTP’s evolution.

    In a rare but major exception, the studios were not a combatant in one of Hollywood’s most lurid strikes, a 227-day dispute between two so-called below-the-line unions that became defined by a single day.

    Whether you prefer “Bloody” or “Black” as the descriptor to that Friday in early October 1945, the resulting moniker for the melee in the Warner Bros. studio lot is appropriately weighty.

    It may be tempting to prognosticate about the end of these concurrent strikes, but history is of little help here: Past strikes have spanned months and lasted minutes. Nonetheless, they’re instructive for how the issues that drove the conflicts and the resolutions set the stage for today’s disputes. Each success and failure has contributed to shaping the contemporary landscape.

    Here’s a look at some of the most significant strikes in Hollywood labour history.

    2007-2008 writers strike: 100 days

    KEY ISSUE: Compensation, including residual payments, for shows and movies distributed digitally

    MAIN RESULTS: Jurisdiction over projects created for the internet under certain guidelines; set compensation for ad-supported streaming programs; increased residuals for downloaded shows and movies

    Since it was the most significant Hollywood strike in decades, it’s the one most etched in most people’s memories. All told, it had an estimated $2 billion impact on the California economy and is often credited with sending programming further into reality television’s clutches (even if such gems as NBC’s “My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad” didn’t have much staying power).

    While an analyst at the time told the AP the strike was “an unqualified success,” some WGA members felt they were pressured into accepting weaker terms because the Directors Guild of America negotiated their own contract on similar issues. A specter of that discontent reared its head again 15 years later, when the DGA reached a “truly historic” tentative agreement with AMPTP a little over a month into the 2023 writers strike.

    “They have all these other concerns, like with prestige and credit and authorship … and things that are not as tangible,” Fortmueller said of the directors guild’s priorities through the ages.1988 writers strike: 154 days

    KEY ISSUE: Residuals for television shows sold to foreign markets

    MAIN RESULTS: More creative control over scripts and the reacquisition of original screenplays; salary increases, though guild negotiators said they were less successful in winning larger payments for the foreign market reruns

    This contract was ratified on the 154th day of the strike, making it the longest WGA strike by a margin of one day.

    “It was a very difficult time. Over a period of time, some of the rancor and anger will be forgotten. I don’t think the spirit will be forgotten, though. They (the writers) will remember this for a long time,” WGA spokesperson Cheryl Rhoden said at the time.

    Fortmueller also noted that this strike really marked the birth of reality TV as a way to fill time in vacant schedule blocks.

    1981 writers strike: 96 days; 1980 actors strike: 77 days

    KEY ISSUE: The fast-growing home video and pay TV markets

    MAIN RESULTS: Share of producer revenues from those markets; increase in base payWhile these strikes happened nearly a year apart, the core issue was the same: Actors and writers wanted a portion of the revenue generated in quickly growing markets — there was money to be made on videocassettes.

    In 1980, SAG, AFTRA and the American Federation of Musicians all went on strike. In the longest strike in their history, the actors ended up winning the industry’s first pay TV concessions. The musicians had no such luck, despite striking for 167 days.

    The following year, striking writers won similar concessions, and WGA spokespeople characterized it as the most extensive and precedent-setting deal the guild had negotiated in two decades.

    1973 writers strike: 111 days

    KEY ISSUES: Pay and benefits

    MAIN RESULTS: Salary hikes, guaranteed residual pay schedules for movies on cassettes and pay TVWhile the 1973 writers strike technically lasted for 16 weeks, work was not necessarily halted the entire time. The strike didn’t extend to soap operas and variety shows until more than a month in — and those effects were more immediately tangible.

    Around 10 weeks into the strike, the boycotts were pared back to just the major television and film studios that comprised the AMPTP. By that point, more than 150 independent producers — who controlled more than 50% of primetime television — had signed the new contract and were allowed to get back to work.

    1960 writers and actors strike: 153 days (WGA), 43 days (SAG)

    KEY ISSUES: Foreign and subsidiary rights on television scripts, rerun rights, proceeds from the sale of post-1948 films to television, a pension system for SAG

    MAIN RESULTS: Actors and writers won salary bumps, residual payments for films released to TV and — most crucially — the establishment of pension, health and welfare funds; writers agree to waive claims on revenue from the sale of pre-1960 movies to TV

    The writers quite literally struck first, and would strike longer, but it was SAG — with its starry membership — that would be first to secure pension, health and welfare funds. In a marked departure from today’s raucous and punny picket lines, the guilds did not picket or demonstrate, according to contemporaneous articles that called the nature of the strikes “firm but polite.”

    “This is what studios were afraid of in the ’20s and ’30s, is nobody wants to see your stars on a picket line. It’s not the optics that Hollywood wants,” Fortmueller said of how the actors’ decision to strike changed the calculus. Writers also tend to be on the same page, with similar responsibilities; so if a guild as diverse in roles as SAG-AFTRA is today overwhelmingly chooses to strike, she noted, that telegraphs the severity of the situation.

    SAG was helmed by Ronald Reagan, who represented his fellow actors at the bargaining table alongside arguably bigger celebrities of the time, like Oscar winner Charlton Heston and James Garner, then the star of TV ratings juggernaut “Maverick.” Just two decades later, Reagan — as U.S. president — would become known as one of the most damaging figures in the country’s labor history for his firing of thousands of air traffic controllers during their 1981 strike.

    A 1960 AP story announcing an initial settlement for the actors underlined the magnitude of the strike as “unique in labor history because millionaires were as thick on labor’s side as they were on management’s.”

    SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland invoked the spirit — and gains — of the 1960s last week at the press conference announcing the strike.

    “This is the first SAG-AFTRA strike in this contract in over 40 years,” he said. “This is not a strike-happy union. This is a union that views strikes as a last resort but we’re not afraid to do them when that is what it takes to make sure our members receive a fair contract.”

    NEW YORK: The common refrain is that there’s nothing Hollywood loves so much as its own history — but that’s a history inextricable from its labor movements.

    As the industry comes to a momentous halt courtesy of dual strikes by its actors and screenwriters, it’s worth looking back at the effects of past protests, walkouts and other actions.

    The Screen Actors Guild and the Screen Writers Guild, the forerunner to today’s Writers Guild of America, were each founded in 1933, though threads of collective action and solidarity run to the very beginnings of the motion picture industry.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });

    At its founding, SAG boasted less than two dozen members. Ninety years later, 65,000 SAG-AFTRA members are on strike (the two actors unions merged in 2012).

    For a few decades, strikes erupted at a regular cadence. The first actors strikes came in the 1950s, and a SWG strike in 1953 secured the first television residuals. But protests largely tapered off by the late 1980s.

    Before 1950, strikes were about basic working conditions, said Kate Fortmueller, associate professor of film and media history at Georgia State University and an expert in Hollywood labour history.

    “Post-1950, the concerns are more about residuals, replays, so like distribution. So it’s less about sort of how we’re working and more about how do we share in the profits that our work continues to generate?” she said. The 2023 strikes, Fortmueller said, marks a return to the more fundamental concerns about working conditions — and existential worries about the industry’s future.

    Throughout it all the guilds have faced essentially the same opponent: the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. First a conglomerate of studio heads, it evolved to include studios and networks, and now boasts streamers and other major production companies, Fortmueller said.

    “These streaming companies have origins in tech. And tech is a very different labor culture than Hollywood, in part because tech is not heavily unionized. And Hollywood has been for almost 100 years,” Fortmueller said, characterizing a major animating factor in AMPTP’s evolution.

    In a rare but major exception, the studios were not a combatant in one of Hollywood’s most lurid strikes, a 227-day dispute between two so-called below-the-line unions that became defined by a single day.

    Whether you prefer “Bloody” or “Black” as the descriptor to that Friday in early October 1945, the resulting moniker for the melee in the Warner Bros. studio lot is appropriately weighty.

    It may be tempting to prognosticate about the end of these concurrent strikes, but history is of little help here: Past strikes have spanned months and lasted minutes. Nonetheless, they’re instructive for how the issues that drove the conflicts and the resolutions set the stage for today’s disputes. Each success and failure has contributed to shaping the contemporary landscape.

    Here’s a look at some of the most significant strikes in Hollywood labour history.

    2007-2008 writers strike: 100 days

    KEY ISSUE: Compensation, including residual payments, for shows and movies distributed digitally

    MAIN RESULTS: Jurisdiction over projects created for the internet under certain guidelines; set compensation for ad-supported streaming programs; increased residuals for downloaded shows and movies

    Since it was the most significant Hollywood strike in decades, it’s the one most etched in most people’s memories. All told, it had an estimated $2 billion impact on the California economy and is often credited with sending programming further into reality television’s clutches (even if such gems as NBC’s “My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad” didn’t have much staying power).

    While an analyst at the time told the AP the strike was “an unqualified success,” some WGA members felt they were pressured into accepting weaker terms because the Directors Guild of America negotiated their own contract on similar issues. A specter of that discontent reared its head again 15 years later, when the DGA reached a “truly historic” tentative agreement with AMPTP a little over a month into the 2023 writers strike.

    “They have all these other concerns, like with prestige and credit and authorship … and things that are not as tangible,” Fortmueller said of the directors guild’s priorities through the ages.
    1988 writers strike: 154 days

    KEY ISSUE: Residuals for television shows sold to foreign markets

    MAIN RESULTS: More creative control over scripts and the reacquisition of original screenplays; salary increases, though guild negotiators said they were less successful in winning larger payments for the foreign market reruns

    This contract was ratified on the 154th day of the strike, making it the longest WGA strike by a margin of one day.

    “It was a very difficult time. Over a period of time, some of the rancor and anger will be forgotten. I don’t think the spirit will be forgotten, though. They (the writers) will remember this for a long time,” WGA spokesperson Cheryl Rhoden said at the time.

    Fortmueller also noted that this strike really marked the birth of reality TV as a way to fill time in vacant schedule blocks.

    1981 writers strike: 96 days; 1980 actors strike: 77 days

    KEY ISSUE: The fast-growing home video and pay TV markets

    MAIN RESULTS: Share of producer revenues from those markets; increase in base pay
    While these strikes happened nearly a year apart, the core issue was the same: Actors and writers wanted a portion of the revenue generated in quickly growing markets — there was money to be made on videocassettes.

    In 1980, SAG, AFTRA and the American Federation of Musicians all went on strike. In the longest strike in their history, the actors ended up winning the industry’s first pay TV concessions. The musicians had no such luck, despite striking for 167 days.

    The following year, striking writers won similar concessions, and WGA spokespeople characterized it as the most extensive and precedent-setting deal the guild had negotiated in two decades.

    1973 writers strike: 111 days

    KEY ISSUES: Pay and benefits

    MAIN RESULTS: Salary hikes, guaranteed residual pay schedules for movies on cassettes and pay TV
    While the 1973 writers strike technically lasted for 16 weeks, work was not necessarily halted the entire time. The strike didn’t extend to soap operas and variety shows until more than a month in — and those effects were more immediately tangible.

    Around 10 weeks into the strike, the boycotts were pared back to just the major television and film studios that comprised the AMPTP. By that point, more than 150 independent producers — who controlled more than 50% of primetime television — had signed the new contract and were allowed to get back to work.

    1960 writers and actors strike: 153 days (WGA), 43 days (SAG)

    KEY ISSUES: Foreign and subsidiary rights on television scripts, rerun rights, proceeds from the sale of post-1948 films to television, a pension system for SAG

    MAIN RESULTS: Actors and writers won salary bumps, residual payments for films released to TV and — most crucially — the establishment of pension, health and welfare funds; writers agree to waive claims on revenue from the sale of pre-1960 movies to TV

    The writers quite literally struck first, and would strike longer, but it was SAG — with its starry membership — that would be first to secure pension, health and welfare funds. In a marked departure from today’s raucous and punny picket lines, the guilds did not picket or demonstrate, according to contemporaneous articles that called the nature of the strikes “firm but polite.”

    “This is what studios were afraid of in the ’20s and ’30s, is nobody wants to see your stars on a picket line. It’s not the optics that Hollywood wants,” Fortmueller said of how the actors’ decision to strike changed the calculus. Writers also tend to be on the same page, with similar responsibilities; so if a guild as diverse in roles as SAG-AFTRA is today overwhelmingly chooses to strike, she noted, that telegraphs the severity of the situation.

    SAG was helmed by Ronald Reagan, who represented his fellow actors at the bargaining table alongside arguably bigger celebrities of the time, like Oscar winner Charlton Heston and James Garner, then the star of TV ratings juggernaut “Maverick.” Just two decades later, Reagan — as U.S. president — would become known as one of the most damaging figures in the country’s labor history for his firing of thousands of air traffic controllers during their 1981 strike.

    A 1960 AP story announcing an initial settlement for the actors underlined the magnitude of the strike as “unique in labor history because millionaires were as thick on labor’s side as they were on management’s.”

    SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland invoked the spirit — and gains — of the 1960s last week at the press conference announcing the strike.

    “This is the first SAG-AFTRA strike in this contract in over 40 years,” he said. “This is not a strike-happy union. This is a union that views strikes as a last resort but we’re not afraid to do them when that is what it takes to make sure our members receive a fair contract.”

  • Hollywood actors may join its writers in industry’s first two-union strike in more than six decades

    By Associated Press

    LOS ANGELES: Hollywood actors may be days from joining screenwriters in what would be the first two-union strike in the industry in more than six decades, with huge consequences for film and television production. Here is a look at how it could play out, and why it’s happening.

    What’s Happening With Actors’ Negotiations?

    The contract between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists and the studios, streaming services and production companies that employ them had been set to expire Friday night at midnight Pacific time. But hours before that the two sides said they had agreed to extend the current contract, and talks on the next one, through July 12. Unionized actors have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their leaders to call a strike if no deal is reached. Talks also went past the deadline in 2014 and 2017, and agreements resulted both times.

    Reports have said the talks have been productive. But some actors have expressed worry that their leaders may not be pushing hard enough. More than 1,000 of them, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Bob Odenkirk, have added their names to a letter to negotiators saying they are willing to strike, and are concerned they are “ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.” The letter says “this is not a moment to meet in the middle.”

    The guild, led by president and former “Nanny” star Fran Drescher, represents over 160,000 screen actors, stunt performers, broadcast journalists, announcers, and hosts, but a strike would involve only actors working on television shows and films.

    What Do The Actors Want?

    Many of the same issues that drove writers to strike are on the table for actors, including what the guilds say is shrinking compensation brought on by a streaming ecosystem in which royalty payments are no longer tethered to the popularity of a film or TV show. A role or a writing credit on a show that became a hit with a long life in reruns is no longer the cash cow that it once was. And the unions say inflation is outpacing the scheduled pay bumps within their contracts.

    For both scribes and performers, the move to streaming and its ripple effects have also meant shorter seasons of shows with longer gaps between them, and therefore less work.

    And like the writers, actors fear the threat of the unregulated use of artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA said in a memo to members that the burgeoning ability of AI to recreate the performances of its members is “a real and immediate threat” that it wants to head off.

    Issues particular to actors include the new and increasing burden of self-taped auditions — the cost of which used to be the responsibility of casting and productions.

    Have Hollywood Actors Gone On Strike Before?

    Movie and TV actors last went on strike for three months in 1980, though actors in broadcast commercials have gone on strike twice since then. Overall they have had far more labour peace than screenwriters, whose walkouts have been far more frequent. That includes the current standoff, in which 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike for nearly two months, with no end in sight.

    In 1960 the actors’ union, led by then-SAG president and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan, went on strike for six weeks that fell in the middle of a five-month writers’ strike, the only time two major Hollywood unions walked off the job at the same time.

    Actors have shown broad support for striking writers, and many have joined them on picket lines in an act of what has so far been symbolic solidarity.

    What Effect Would The Combined Strikes Have On Viewers?

    The writers’ strike had an almost instant effect on late-night network talk shows, including NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” ABC’s “ Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which all went on hiatus immediately. “Saturday Night Live” axed its last three episodes of the season.

    In the two months since, many scripted television series have also shut down, including Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” Max’s “Hacks,” Showtime’s “Yellow Jackets,” and Apple TV+’s “Severance.” Some movies have reportedly also been paused.

    Actors joining writers would force nearly every other show or film that hasn’t already been shot into a similar shutdown. Forthcoming seasons of television shows would be delayed indefinitely, and movie releases will be pushed back.

    Streaming menus on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video will show no immediate differences, though lovers of those outlets’ original series would eventually have to wait longer for their favourites to return.

    Exceptions would be productions taking place outside the United States. And reality shows, game shows and most daytime talk shows will likely be unaffected.

    The two strikes are also casting doubt on the viability of the Emmy Awards, whose nominations are scheduled to be announced on July 12 before a September ceremony, though the Tony Awards and BET Awards managed to shows go on despite the writers’ strike.

    What’s Happening With The Writers?

    The writers’ strike has seen persistent picketing and some major rallies for two months, but so far no movement. There are no current negotiations happening between the strikers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, streamers and production companies in all the industry’s union negotiations. The longest previous writers’ strike, in 1988, lasted five months.

    Along with the issues they have in common with actors, writers are especially concerned with the shrinking staffs that are used on shows, which they call “mini-rooms.” They have meant much less work, and far fewer guarantees of future work.

    The AMPTP says the writers’ demands would require that they be kept on staff and paid when there is no work for them. The group also said that it had offered generous pay increases.

    The two sides were so far apart in their negotiations that talks broke off hours before the contract expired. Whether a different outcome can be found with actors in the coming days remains to be seen.

    LOS ANGELES: Hollywood actors may be days from joining screenwriters in what would be the first two-union strike in the industry in more than six decades, with huge consequences for film and television production. Here is a look at how it could play out, and why it’s happening.

    What’s Happening With Actors’ Negotiations?

    The contract between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists and the studios, streaming services and production companies that employ them had been set to expire Friday night at midnight Pacific time. But hours before that the two sides said they had agreed to extend the current contract, and talks on the next one, through July 12. Unionized actors have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their leaders to call a strike if no deal is reached. Talks also went past the deadline in 2014 and 2017, and agreements resulted both times.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });

    Reports have said the talks have been productive. But some actors have expressed worry that their leaders may not be pushing hard enough. More than 1,000 of them, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Bob Odenkirk, have added their names to a letter to negotiators saying they are willing to strike, and are concerned they are “ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.” The letter says “this is not a moment to meet in the middle.”

    The guild, led by president and former “Nanny” star Fran Drescher, represents over 160,000 screen actors, stunt performers, broadcast journalists, announcers, and hosts, but a strike would involve only actors working on television shows and films.

    What Do The Actors Want?

    Many of the same issues that drove writers to strike are on the table for actors, including what the guilds say is shrinking compensation brought on by a streaming ecosystem in which royalty payments are no longer tethered to the popularity of a film or TV show. A role or a writing credit on a show that became a hit with a long life in reruns is no longer the cash cow that it once was. And the unions say inflation is outpacing the scheduled pay bumps within their contracts.

    For both scribes and performers, the move to streaming and its ripple effects have also meant shorter seasons of shows with longer gaps between them, and therefore less work.

    And like the writers, actors fear the threat of the unregulated use of artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA said in a memo to members that the burgeoning ability of AI to recreate the performances of its members is “a real and immediate threat” that it wants to head off.

    Issues particular to actors include the new and increasing burden of self-taped auditions — the cost of which used to be the responsibility of casting and productions.

    Have Hollywood Actors Gone On Strike Before?

    Movie and TV actors last went on strike for three months in 1980, though actors in broadcast commercials have gone on strike twice since then. Overall they have had far more labour peace than screenwriters, whose walkouts have been far more frequent. That includes the current standoff, in which 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike for nearly two months, with no end in sight.

    In 1960 the actors’ union, led by then-SAG president and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan, went on strike for six weeks that fell in the middle of a five-month writers’ strike, the only time two major Hollywood unions walked off the job at the same time.

    Actors have shown broad support for striking writers, and many have joined them on picket lines in an act of what has so far been symbolic solidarity.

    What Effect Would The Combined Strikes Have On Viewers?

    The writers’ strike had an almost instant effect on late-night network talk shows, including NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” ABC’s “ Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which all went on hiatus immediately. “Saturday Night Live” axed its last three episodes of the season.

    In the two months since, many scripted television series have also shut down, including Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” Max’s “Hacks,” Showtime’s “Yellow Jackets,” and Apple TV+’s “Severance.” Some movies have reportedly also been paused.

    Actors joining writers would force nearly every other show or film that hasn’t already been shot into a similar shutdown. Forthcoming seasons of television shows would be delayed indefinitely, and movie releases will be pushed back.

    Streaming menus on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video will show no immediate differences, though lovers of those outlets’ original series would eventually have to wait longer for their favourites to return.

    Exceptions would be productions taking place outside the United States. And reality shows, game shows and most daytime talk shows will likely be unaffected.

    The two strikes are also casting doubt on the viability of the Emmy Awards, whose nominations are scheduled to be announced on July 12 before a September ceremony, though the Tony Awards and BET Awards managed to shows go on despite the writers’ strike.

    What’s Happening With The Writers?

    The writers’ strike has seen persistent picketing and some major rallies for two months, but so far no movement. There are no current negotiations happening between the strikers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, streamers and production companies in all the industry’s union negotiations. The longest previous writers’ strike, in 1988, lasted five months.

    Along with the issues they have in common with actors, writers are especially concerned with the shrinking staffs that are used on shows, which they call “mini-rooms.” They have meant much less work, and far fewer guarantees of future work.

    The AMPTP says the writers’ demands would require that they be kept on staff and paid when there is no work for them. The group also said that it had offered generous pay increases.

    The two sides were so far apart in their negotiations that talks broke off hours before the contract expired. Whether a different outcome can be found with actors in the coming days remains to be seen.

  • Hollywood writers, slamming ‘gig economy,’ to go on strike

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: Television and movie writers declared late Monday that they will launch a strike for the first time in 15 years, as Hollywood girded for a walkout with potentially widespread ramifications in a fight over fair pay in the streaming era.

    The Writers Guild of America said that its 11,500 unionized screenwriters will head to the picket lines on Tuesday. Negotiations between studios and the writers, which began in March, failed to reach a new contract before the writers’ current deal expired just after midnight, at 12:01 a.m. PDT Tuesday. All script writing is to immediately cease, the guild informed its members.

    The board of directors for the WGA, which includes both a West and an East branch, voted unanimously to call for a strike, effective at the stroke of midnight. Writers, they said, are facing an “existential crisis.”

    “The companies’ behaviour has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing,” the WGA said in a statement.

    “From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a ‘day rate’ in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labour force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”

    The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association that bargains on behalf of studios and production companies, signalled late Monday that negotiations fell short of an agreement before the current contract expired. The AMPTP said it presented an offer with “generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals.”

    In a statement, the AMPTP said that it was prepared to improve its offer “but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon.”

    The labour dispute could have a cascading effect on TV and film productions depending on how long the strike persists. But a shutdown has been widely forecast for months due to the scope of the discord. The writers last month voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, with 98% of the membership in support.

    At issue is how writers are compensated in an industry where streaming has changed the rules of Hollywood economics. Writers say they aren’t being paid enough, TV writer rooms have shrunk too much and the old calculus for how residuals are paid out needs to be redrawn.

    “The survival of our profession is at stake,” the guild has said.

    Streaming has exploded the number of series and films that are annually made, meaning more jobs for writers. But WGA members say they’re making much less money and working under more strained conditions. Showrunners on streaming series receive just 46% of the pay that showrunners on broadcast series receive, the WGA claims. Content is booming, but the pay is down.

    The guild is seeking more compensation on the front-end of deals. Many of the back-end payments writers have historically profited by – like syndication and international licensing – have been largely phased out by the onset of streaming. More writers — roughly half — are being paid minimum rates, an increase of 16% over the last decade. The use of so-called mini-writers rooms has soared.

    The AMPTP said Monday that the primary sticking points to a deal revolved around those mini-rooms — the guild is seeking a minimum number of scribes per writer room — and duration of employment restrictions. The guild has said more flexibility for writers is needed when they’re contracted for series that have tended to be more limited and short-lived than the once-standard 20-plus episode broadcast season.

    At the same time, studios are under increased pressure from Wall Street to turn a profit with their streaming services. Many studios and production companies are slashing spending. The Walt Disney Co. is eliminating 7,000 jobs. Warner Bros. Discovery is cutting costs to lessen its debt. Netflix has pumped the breaks on spending growth.

    When Hollywood writers have gone on strike, it’s often been lengthy. In 1988, a WGA strike lasted 153 days. The last WGA strike went for 100 days, beginning in 2007 and ending in 2008.

    The most immediate effect of the strike viewers are likely to notice will be on late-night shows and “Saturday Night Live.” All are expected to immediately go dark. During the 2007 strike, late-night hosts eventually returned to the air and improvised material. Jay Leno wrote his own monologues, a move that angered union leadership.

    On Friday’s episode of “Late Night,” Seth Meyers, a WGA member who said he supported the union’s demands, prepared viewers for re-runs while lamenting the hardship a strike entails.

    “It doesn’t just affect the writers, it affects all the incredible non-writing staff on these shows,” Meyers said. “And it would really be a miserable thing for people to have to go through, especially considering we’re on the heels of that awful pandemic that affected, not just show business, but all of us.”

    Scripted series and films will take longer to be affected. But if a strike persisted through the summer, fall schedules could be upended. And in the meantime, not having writers available for rewrites can have a dramatic effect on quality.

    The James Bond film “Quantum of Solace” was one of many films rushed into production during the 2007-2008 strike with what Daniel Craig called “the bare bones of a script.”

    “Then there was a writers’ strike and there was nothing we could do,” Craig later recounted. “We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, ‘Never again’, but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes — and a writer I am not.”

    With a walkout long expected, writers have rushed to get scripts in and studios have sought to prepare their pipelines to keep churning out content for at least the short term.

    “We’re assuming the worst from a business perspective,” David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, said last month. “We’ve got ourselves ready. We’ve had a lot of content that’s been produced.”

    Overseas series could also fill some of the void. “If there is one, we have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-chief executive, on the company’s earnings call in April.

    Yet the WGA strike may only be the beginning. Contracts for both the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, expire in June. Some of the same issues around the business model of streaming will factor into those bargaining sessions. The DGA is set to begin negotiations with AMPTP on May 10.

    The cost of the WGA’s last strike cost Southern California $2.1 billion, according to the Milken Institute. How painful this strike is remains to be seen. But as of late Monday evening, laptops were being closed and shut all over Hollywood.

    “Pencils down,” said “Halt and Catch Fire” showrunner and co-creator Christopher Cantwell on Twitter shortly after the strike announcement. “Don’t even type in the document.”

    NEW YORK: Television and movie writers declared late Monday that they will launch a strike for the first time in 15 years, as Hollywood girded for a walkout with potentially widespread ramifications in a fight over fair pay in the streaming era.

    The Writers Guild of America said that its 11,500 unionized screenwriters will head to the picket lines on Tuesday. Negotiations between studios and the writers, which began in March, failed to reach a new contract before the writers’ current deal expired just after midnight, at 12:01 a.m. PDT Tuesday. All script writing is to immediately cease, the guild informed its members.

    The board of directors for the WGA, which includes both a West and an East branch, voted unanimously to call for a strike, effective at the stroke of midnight. Writers, they said, are facing an “existential crisis.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });

    “The companies’ behaviour has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing,” the WGA said in a statement.

    “From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a ‘day rate’ in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labour force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”

    The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association that bargains on behalf of studios and production companies, signalled late Monday that negotiations fell short of an agreement before the current contract expired. The AMPTP said it presented an offer with “generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals.”

    In a statement, the AMPTP said that it was prepared to improve its offer “but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon.”

    The labour dispute could have a cascading effect on TV and film productions depending on how long the strike persists. But a shutdown has been widely forecast for months due to the scope of the discord. The writers last month voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, with 98% of the membership in support.

    At issue is how writers are compensated in an industry where streaming has changed the rules of Hollywood economics. Writers say they aren’t being paid enough, TV writer rooms have shrunk too much and the old calculus for how residuals are paid out needs to be redrawn.

    “The survival of our profession is at stake,” the guild has said.

    Streaming has exploded the number of series and films that are annually made, meaning more jobs for writers. But WGA members say they’re making much less money and working under more strained conditions. Showrunners on streaming series receive just 46% of the pay that showrunners on broadcast series receive, the WGA claims. Content is booming, but the pay is down.

    The guild is seeking more compensation on the front-end of deals. Many of the back-end payments writers have historically profited by – like syndication and international licensing – have been largely phased out by the onset of streaming. More writers — roughly half — are being paid minimum rates, an increase of 16% over the last decade. The use of so-called mini-writers rooms has soared.

    The AMPTP said Monday that the primary sticking points to a deal revolved around those mini-rooms — the guild is seeking a minimum number of scribes per writer room — and duration of employment restrictions. The guild has said more flexibility for writers is needed when they’re contracted for series that have tended to be more limited and short-lived than the once-standard 20-plus episode broadcast season.

    At the same time, studios are under increased pressure from Wall Street to turn a profit with their streaming services. Many studios and production companies are slashing spending. The Walt Disney Co. is eliminating 7,000 jobs. Warner Bros. Discovery is cutting costs to lessen its debt. Netflix has pumped the breaks on spending growth.

    When Hollywood writers have gone on strike, it’s often been lengthy. In 1988, a WGA strike lasted 153 days. The last WGA strike went for 100 days, beginning in 2007 and ending in 2008.

    The most immediate effect of the strike viewers are likely to notice will be on late-night shows and “Saturday Night Live.” All are expected to immediately go dark. During the 2007 strike, late-night hosts eventually returned to the air and improvised material. Jay Leno wrote his own monologues, a move that angered union leadership.

    On Friday’s episode of “Late Night,” Seth Meyers, a WGA member who said he supported the union’s demands, prepared viewers for re-runs while lamenting the hardship a strike entails.

    “It doesn’t just affect the writers, it affects all the incredible non-writing staff on these shows,” Meyers said. “And it would really be a miserable thing for people to have to go through, especially considering we’re on the heels of that awful pandemic that affected, not just show business, but all of us.”

    Scripted series and films will take longer to be affected. But if a strike persisted through the summer, fall schedules could be upended. And in the meantime, not having writers available for rewrites can have a dramatic effect on quality.

    The James Bond film “Quantum of Solace” was one of many films rushed into production during the 2007-2008 strike with what Daniel Craig called “the bare bones of a script.”

    “Then there was a writers’ strike and there was nothing we could do,” Craig later recounted. “We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, ‘Never again’, but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes — and a writer I am not.”

    With a walkout long expected, writers have rushed to get scripts in and studios have sought to prepare their pipelines to keep churning out content for at least the short term.

    “We’re assuming the worst from a business perspective,” David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, said last month. “We’ve got ourselves ready. We’ve had a lot of content that’s been produced.”

    Overseas series could also fill some of the void. “If there is one, we have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-chief executive, on the company’s earnings call in April.

    Yet the WGA strike may only be the beginning. Contracts for both the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, expire in June. Some of the same issues around the business model of streaming will factor into those bargaining sessions. The DGA is set to begin negotiations with AMPTP on May 10.

    The cost of the WGA’s last strike cost Southern California $2.1 billion, according to the Milken Institute. How painful this strike is remains to be seen. But as of late Monday evening, laptops were being closed and shut all over Hollywood.

    “Pencils down,” said “Halt and Catch Fire” showrunner and co-creator Christopher Cantwell on Twitter shortly after the strike announcement. “Don’t even type in the document.”

  • Join work or face dismissal: UP Energy minister’s warning to workers on strike

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh’s Energy Minister A K Sharma on Saturday issued a stern warning to electricity department employees on strike, directing them to join their duties by 6 pm, or face dismissal.

    The state-wide strike of electricity department employees continued for the second day on Saturday with their leaders warning that if the workers were dismissed or arrested, the 72-hour symbolic strike would turn into an indefinite strike.

    In a statement on Saturday, leaders of Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti also warned that all electrical workers, junior engineers of energy corporations, engineers and contract workers will start a mass ‘jail bharo’ movement.

    According to officials, the Ballia district administration has started lodging cases against employees of the electricity department found absent from duty without authorisation.

    “A decision has been taken to initiate action against 22 people from the department under ESMA (the Essential Services Maintenance Act). Apart from this, instructions have also been issued to lodge FIR against those damaging government property and obstructing others from discharging their duties. FIR has been registered against 29 people in this matter,” the minister said.

    “Services of 1,332 contractual employees have been terminated. I again request all contractual employees to resume their duties by 6 pm, else they will be dismissed from service tonight,” he said. He added that the outsourcing companies have been told to recruit new people to replace the dismissed employees.

    “A list of people who have passed from ITIs, polytechnics and engineering colleges should be prepared who could be hired as apprentices. A decision (on whether to continue with their service or not) will be taken later,” Sharma said.

    In Ballia, a case was lodged against two electricity department employees who were found missing from a power transmission facility.

    According to a statement issued by the district information department on Saturday, District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar and Superintendent of Police Raj Karan Nayyar inspected different facilities.

    During the inspection, two staff supervisors posted at Vishnupur powerhouse were found to be absent.

    On the direction of the district magistrate, a case was lodged against the absent employees, the statement said.

    The district magistrate all directed deployment of police force around all powerhouses and to take strict action if any miscreants try to cause trouble there, it added.

    According to Shailendra Dubey, the convenor of Vidyut Karmacharis Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, there are 70,000 contractual employees in the electricity department.

    “The Obra Thermal Power Plant has come to a standstill. All five units have shut down. The (electricity) production of Obra is zero,” Dubey claimed, adding, the protest has led to a massive disruption in electricity supply in some parts of the state. Energy minister Sharma said that efforts are on to have a dialogue with the protesting employees. The protesters, however, have sought Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s intervention to end the “atmosphere of confrontation”.

    They alleged that some of their demands relating to pay anomalies and outsourcing of operation and maintenance of power sub-stations, agreed to by the state government in December last year, have not been fulfilled by power corporations even after three months.

    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh’s Energy Minister A K Sharma on Saturday issued a stern warning to electricity department employees on strike, directing them to join their duties by 6 pm, or face dismissal.

    The state-wide strike of electricity department employees continued for the second day on Saturday with their leaders warning that if the workers were dismissed or arrested, the 72-hour symbolic strike would turn into an indefinite strike.

    In a statement on Saturday, leaders of Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti also warned that all electrical workers, junior engineers of energy corporations, engineers and contract workers will start a mass ‘jail bharo’ movement.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    According to officials, the Ballia district administration has started lodging cases against employees of the electricity department found absent from duty without authorisation.

    “A decision has been taken to initiate action against 22 people from the department under ESMA (the Essential Services Maintenance Act). Apart from this, instructions have also been issued to lodge FIR against those damaging government property and obstructing others from discharging their duties. FIR has been registered against 29 people in this matter,” the minister said.

    “Services of 1,332 contractual employees have been terminated. I again request all contractual employees to resume their duties by 6 pm, else they will be dismissed from service tonight,” he said. He added that the outsourcing companies have been told to recruit new people to replace the dismissed employees.

    “A list of people who have passed from ITIs, polytechnics and engineering colleges should be prepared who could be hired as apprentices. A decision (on whether to continue with their service or not) will be taken later,” Sharma said.

    In Ballia, a case was lodged against two electricity department employees who were found missing from a power transmission facility.

    According to a statement issued by the district information department on Saturday, District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar and Superintendent of Police Raj Karan Nayyar inspected different facilities.

    During the inspection, two staff supervisors posted at Vishnupur powerhouse were found to be absent.

    On the direction of the district magistrate, a case was lodged against the absent employees, the statement said.

    The district magistrate all directed deployment of police force around all powerhouses and to take strict action if any miscreants try to cause trouble there, it added.

    According to Shailendra Dubey, the convenor of Vidyut Karmacharis Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, there are 70,000 contractual employees in the electricity department.

    “The Obra Thermal Power Plant has come to a standstill. All five units have shut down. The (electricity) production of Obra is zero,” Dubey claimed, adding, the protest has led to a massive disruption in electricity supply in some parts of the state. Energy minister Sharma said that efforts are on to have a dialogue with the protesting employees. The protesters, however, have sought Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s intervention to end the “atmosphere of confrontation”.

    They alleged that some of their demands relating to pay anomalies and outsourcing of operation and maintenance of power sub-stations, agreed to by the state government in December last year, have not been fulfilled by power corporations even after three months.

  • Bus strike across Punjab, commuters face inconvenience

    By PTI

    AMRITSAR: People faced inconvenience at many places in Punjab on Saturday due to a strike called by contractual employees of a government transport undertaking to press for various demands.

    The protesting employees claimed that over 2,000 buses of the government’s undertaking PUNBUS were off the roads at various bus depots during the state-wide protest.

    The protest affected passengers at various places in the state, including Ludhiana, Moga, Amritsar and Ferozepur. Some passengers said they had to opt for private buses or taxis to reach their destination.

    The employees are protesting against the outsourcing of 28 posts of drivers.

    Their demands include cancellation of recruitment through outsourcing and formation of a better hiring policy for the department.

    An employee union leader in Ludhiana said the next decision on the strike will be taken after a meeting with the government slated in Chandigarh on Monday.

    In Amritsar, vice-president of the protesting employees union Jodh Singh said buses would remain off the roads till their demands are met.

    He said their demands also include immediate payment of the promised five per cent hike to temporary workers.

    AMRITSAR: People faced inconvenience at many places in Punjab on Saturday due to a strike called by contractual employees of a government transport undertaking to press for various demands.

    The protesting employees claimed that over 2,000 buses of the government’s undertaking PUNBUS were off the roads at various bus depots during the state-wide protest.

    The protest affected passengers at various places in the state, including Ludhiana, Moga, Amritsar and Ferozepur. Some passengers said they had to opt for private buses or taxis to reach their destination.

    The employees are protesting against the outsourcing of 28 posts of drivers.

    Their demands include cancellation of recruitment through outsourcing and formation of a better hiring policy for the department.

    An employee union leader in Ludhiana said the next decision on the strike will be taken after a meeting with the government slated in Chandigarh on Monday.

    In Amritsar, vice-president of the protesting employees union Jodh Singh said buses would remain off the roads till their demands are met.

    He said their demands also include immediate payment of the promised five per cent hike to temporary workers.

  • Lufthansa flight cancelled, stirred up passengers stranded in Delhi airport, cops deployed

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Due to a one-day pilot strike, Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa had to cancel 800 flights throughout the world, leaving 700 passengers stuck at the T3 terminal at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. Strong protests were made yesterday night at the Delhi airport by stranded travellers and their family members.

    DCP along with ACP and SHOs of both the police stations reached the spot and intervened to open channels of communication between airlines and passengers and the situation was normalised, said senior Police officials.

    “An information was received at IGI Airport at 12.15 AM in which it was conveyed that a crowd had gathered on the main road in front of Departure gate no. 1 Terminal 3 IGI Airport. On reaching the spot it was found that approx. 150 persons were present there and because of this the traffic was slowed down.” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI airport) Tanu Sharma. 

    She further added,  “The crowd was demanding a refund of money or alternate arrangements to be made for their relatives who were present inside the Terminal building.”

    The Senior officials shared the information of cancelled flights – LH 761(Delhi to Frankfurt) having 300 passengers and scheduled departure at 2.50 AM and LH 763 (Delhi to Munich) having  400 passengers and scheduled departure at 1.10 AM 

    “ Both the flights were cancelled by the Lufthansa headquarters due to the One-day worldwide strike of all the pilots of Lufthansa airlines for salary appraisals,” said DCP.

    The Police informed that on enquiry it was found that the crowd was mostly the family members or relatives of the passengers of flight No.LH 761 and LH 763. When they were informed that the flight had been cancelled without any prior intimation they became agitated.

    Looking at the situation, the Staff of IGI along with CISF reached the spot and the gathering was dispersed shortly. Efforts are being made to make alternate arrangements for the passengers by the airline company, said DCP. 

    In a broadly circulated video, travellers can be heard yelling at the airport and demanding justice and a refund. The majority of those scheduled to fly on Lufthansa last night were students, according to officials.

    Following the pilots’ union’s announcement of a one-day strike, Germany’s Lufthansa airline today cancelled 800 flights throughout the world, presumably affecting 1,30,000 customers.

    NEW DELHI: Due to a one-day pilot strike, Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa had to cancel 800 flights throughout the world, leaving 700 passengers stuck at the T3 terminal at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. Strong protests were made yesterday night at the Delhi airport by stranded travellers and their family members.

    DCP along with ACP and SHOs of both the police stations reached the spot and intervened to open channels of communication between airlines and passengers and the situation was normalised, said senior Police officials.

    “An information was received at IGI Airport at 12.15 AM in which it was conveyed that a crowd had gathered on the main road in front of Departure gate no. 1 Terminal 3 IGI Airport. On reaching the spot it was found that approx. 150 persons were present there and because of this the traffic was slowed down.” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI airport) Tanu Sharma. 

    She further added,  “The crowd was demanding a refund of money or alternate arrangements to be made for their relatives who were present inside the Terminal building.”

    The Senior officials shared the information of cancelled flights – LH 761(Delhi to Frankfurt) having 300 passengers and scheduled departure at 2.50 AM and LH 763 (Delhi to Munich) having  400 passengers and scheduled departure at 1.10 AM 

    “ Both the flights were cancelled by the Lufthansa headquarters due to the One-day worldwide strike of all the pilots of Lufthansa airlines for salary appraisals,” said DCP.

    The Police informed that on enquiry it was found that the crowd was mostly the family members or relatives of the passengers of flight No.LH 761 and LH 763. When they were informed that the flight had been cancelled without any prior intimation they became agitated.

    Looking at the situation, the Staff of IGI along with CISF reached the spot and the gathering was dispersed shortly. Efforts are being made to make alternate arrangements for the passengers by the airline company, said DCP. 

    In a broadly circulated video, travellers can be heard yelling at the airport and demanding justice and a refund. The majority of those scheduled to fly on Lufthansa last night were students, according to officials.

    Following the pilots’ union’s announcement of a one-day strike, Germany’s Lufthansa airline today cancelled 800 flights throughout the world, presumably affecting 1,30,000 customers.

  • Auto, taxi unions in on strike in Delhi to demand CNG subsidy, fare hike

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Various auto-rickshaw, cab and taxi unions in the national capital went on a strike on Monday, demanding a CNG subsidy and a fare revision in the wake of rising fuel prices.

    Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh General Secretary Rajendra Soni said they will also hold a protest outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in Civil Lines later in the day to press their demands.

    Commuters in the city faced difficulties in getting cabs and autos on Monday morning. Though cars were available on Ola and Uber apps, the fares were inflated.

    Auto and cab drivers’ unions have been demanding a hike in fare and slashing of CNG prices to offset the impact of rising fuel prices.

    They refused to call their strike off despite an announcement by the Delhi government to form a committee to consider a fare revision in a time-bound manner.

    “Our strike has started and it will continue throughout the day. CNG has become costlier and we cannot keep running our business on losses. We should either be provided a subsidy of Rs 35 per kg on CNG or fares should be hiked,” Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh General Secretary Rajendra Soni told PTI.

    While most unions said they will be on a one-day strike, the Sarvodaya Driver Association Delhi, which has members who drive for cab aggregators, said it will be an “indefinite” strike.

    There are over 90,000 autos and more than 80,000 registered taxis complementing the public transport system in the city.

  • Central trade unions’ nationwide strike enters Day 2

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The two-day nationwide strike by central trade unions to protest against the government policies entered its second day on Tuesday, impacting normal life in some parts of the country.

    According to reports, public transport and banking services remain partly disrupted for the second day in some states.

    “Workers in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh have joined the strike on the second day in addition to the workforce of state on the agitation on Monday. Workers in almost all sectors have joined the strike. We got a good response from the rural band. Over 20 crore participated in the strike on Monday and the number would be more on the second day,” Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), told PTI.

    A joint forum of central trade unions is protesting against the government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people.

    Their demands include scrapping of Labour Codes, no privatisation in any form, scrapping of National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), increased allocation of wages under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and regularisation of contract workers.

    In a statement, the joint platform has said central trade unions and independent sectoral federations and associations will stage a ‘dharna’ at Jantar Mantar from 11.30 am onwards on the second day of the strike on March 29 for their 12-point charter of demands.

    The unions of bank employees are participating in the strike. Bank unions are protesting against the government’s move to privatise two public sector banks as announced in Budget 2021-22. They are also demanding an increase in interest rate on deposits and reduction in service charges.

    On Monday, the first day of the strike, public dealings at some bank branches were hit and public transport services were thrown out of gear in states like West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

    However, essential services like healthcare, electricity and fuel supplies remained unaffected. Public offices as well as educational institutions were not impacted by the strike on Monday.

    Some bank branches, particularly in cities with a strong trade union movement, did very limited over-the-counter public dealings such as cash deposits and withdrawals on the first day of strike.

    The joint forum of central trade unions said bandh-like situation prevailed in at least eight states on the first day of the strike.

    “There is a bandh-like situation in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Haryana and Jharkhand,” the forum had said in a statement on Monday.

    According to the forum, agitations were held in many industrial areas across Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

    In Maharashtra, volume data from clearing houses and cash replenishment at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) was not immediately available, though the striking employees claimed it had a deep impact.

    Workers staged protests at several places and unions claimed the agitation had an impact in coal mining belts of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh on Monday. The central trade unions that are part of this joint forum are INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC.

  • Central Trade Unions begin two-day nationwide strike

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Central Trade Unions on Monday began a two-day nationwide strike to protest against the government’s alleged wrong policies that are affecting farmers, workers and people.

    Talking to PTI Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), said, “The two-day nationwide strike by the joint forum of central trade unions has begun this morning.”

    About the impact of the agitation, she said that the entire coal belt (mining area) is affected in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

    Kerala | To protest against government policies, different trade unions have called for a nationwide strike/bandh today & tomorrow, March 28 & 29. Only emergency services are excluded from the strike.Visuals from Thiruvananthapuram pic.twitter.com/wC3AbQ8Ied
    — ANI (@ANI) March 28, 2022
    She also said that there is a good response in industrial areas of Assam, Haryana, Delhi, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan, Goa and Odisha.

    The AITUC official noted that the banks and insurance sectors are affected all over India, while steel and oil sectors are also seeing partial impact due to the strike. Kaur said that she has got preliminary reports that markets are closed in Odisha.

    As many as 10 Central Trade Unions (CTUs) have joined hands to go on a two-day nationwide strike from Monday. About 20 crore workers are expected to join the strike.

    The strike notices have been given by the unions in various sectors, such as coal, steel, oil, telecom, postal, income tax, copper, banks, and insurance, among others.

    The unions in railways and defence sector are making mass mobilisation in support of the strike at several hundred spots, the joint forum had said earlier.

    A joint forum of central trade unions had given a call for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29 to protest against the government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people.

    Their demands include the scrapping of the labour codes, no privatisation of any form, scrapping of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), increased allocation of wages under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and regularisation of contract workers among others.

    The central trade unions that are part of this joint forum are INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC.

    Taking cognisance of the call, the Ministry of Power on Sunday had issued an advisory to states and other agencies to be on high alert and ensure round the clock electricity supply and stability of the national grid.

  • Two-day nationwide strike likely to hit essential services

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Some of the essential services related to banking, transportation, railways and electricity are likely to be impacted during a two-day nationwide strike called by a joint forum of central trade unions beginning Monday.

    Talking to PTI, All Indian Trade Union Congress General Secretary Amarjeet Kaur said, “We are expecting participation of over 20 crore formal and informal workers with mass mobilisation of workers across the country during the strike on March 28 and 29 to protest against government policies.” 

    She said that the strike is expected to hit the rural parts also, where informal workers of farming and other sectors will join the protest.

    The strike notices were given by workers’ unions of various sectors such as coal, steel, oil, telecom, postal, income tax, copper, banks and insurance.

    Unions in railways and defence sector will carry out mass mobilization in support of the strike at several places, the joint forum said.

    The unions’ demands include scrapping of the proposed changes in labour laws, privatisation of any form and the national monetisation pipeline.

    Increased allocation of wages under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and regularisation of contract workers are also part of their demands.

    Workers of roadways, transport and electricity departments have also decided to join the strike in spite of the impending threat of ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act) which is likely to be imposed in Haryana and Chandigarh, the joint forum said in a statement.

    Trade unions, including INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC are part of the joint forum.

    Meanwhile, the power ministry on Sunday advised all the state-run utilities and other agencies to be on high alert and ensure round-the-clock electricity supply and stability of the national grid.

    “The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) have called for a nationwide strike with effect from 06:00 hrs of March 28 to 06:00 hrs of March 30, 2022,” an advisory issued by the power ministry said.

    The advisory has been issued to all states, central public sector undertakings, central electricity authority, national load dispatch centre and regional load dispatch centres.

    In the interest of the consumers of electricity, it is advised that all the power utilities shall take necessary measures to ensure round-the-clock functioning of the electricity grid and availability of all plants, transmission lines and substations, the ministry said, adding that all regional/state control room executives should be vigilant and on high alert.

    The ministry also suggested measures to be taken to ensure secure and reliable grid operations.

    Shutdown activities planned during March 28-29 may be rescheduled to suitable future dates to the extent possible, it said and asked all concerned officials to ensure close supervision of their regional network/control area.

    Also, manpower may be deployed at all critical sub-stations/power station 24X7 to handle any emergency situation, it said.

    Power supply to those engaged in essential services such as hospitals, defence, and railways must be ensured, it added and suggested setting up of a 24×7 control room for information dissemination and handling any kind of contingency. Bank employees’ unions said they will support the strike.

    All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said the union demands the government to stop privatisation of public sector banks and strengthen them.

    Bank employees also demand speedy recovey of bad loans, higher deposit rates by banks, lower service charges on customers as well as restoration of old pension scheme for staff.

    A number of public sector banks, including country’s largest lender SBI, have said that their services may get impacted to a limited extent due to the strike.

    SBI said it has made necessary arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices during the strike. “It is likely that work at our bank may be impacted, to a limited extent, by the strike,” SBI said.

    New Delhi-headquartered Punjab National Bank (PNB) said, AIBEA, Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) and All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) have served notices to go on strike on March 28-29. “While bank has made all arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices, it is likely that work in our bank may be impacted to a limited extent by the strike,” PNB said.

    Bengaluru-based Canara Bank said it is taking all necessary steps to ensure smooth functioning of bank branches and offices. However, the functioning of the bank may be impacted, Canara Bank added.

    Private lender RBL Bank said its bank unions are affiliated to AIBOA and AIBEA, and the employees associated with these unions may participate in the strike.

    “The bank will take all necessary steps for smooth functioning of the bank’s branches/offices on the days of strike. However, it is likely that some of our branches would also be impacted by the strike,” RBL said.