LABOR MATTERS
Video iPod Ushers in the Age of iContent
compiled by Jeff Burman
In late October, the snappy-looking video iPod hit the scene, promising
a new way to see moving images—and a lucrative new revenue stream.
Handheld video devices won’t just be iPods; cell phones, wireless
game platforms and other wireless devices are also expected to jump
into this new market. Whether the programming will be music videos,
television clips or reruns, specialized shorts made for the medium,
or even features, the new revenue stream will present new opportunities
for Hollywood’s unions. Here’s a smattering of perspectives
on this veritable boomtown of new possibilities.
“In and of itself, the video iPod is of limited significance. The real story is the Disney-ABC content deal that Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs struck,” writes Wayne Rosso on the online CNET. “The best entry point for the studios into the portable/online video world is through television programming, the vast majority of which is produced by the major film studios,” adds Rosso.
Internet giant America Online is to start a free internet TV service
offering users vintage shows such as Wonder Woman and Babylon 5 in
a far-reaching attempt to get viewers to watch mainstream TV online,
writes Dominic Timms in The Guardian. The advertiser-supported broadband
service, which launches in January, will offer about 3,500 hours of
programming from about 100 shows owned by AOL’s Time Warner
subsidiary, Warner Bros., adds Timms.
NBC Universal and Time Warner Cable reached a broad carriage renewal
agreement that includes video-on-demand rights and new interactive
television services, according to a Reuters dispatch. NBC Universal
also tapped into Apple Computer’s iTunes, offering up nearly
a dozen of its TV shows for download onto iPods and PCs, writes Dawn
Kawamoto, also on CNET.
“The saber-rattling over Apple’s new video iPod has begun,” writes Dave McNary in Variety. Writers Guild of America, west President Patric Verrone has sent a letter to WGAw members asserting that residuals from ABC and Disney programming distributed via new technology should be calculated, at the very least, using the 1.2 percent formula used for pay TV. Verrone said the formula used for DVD residuals should not be applicable. The companies did not specify in an October 12 announcement how talent will be compensated, adds McNary.
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS), best known for
handing out the Emmy Awards, was expected to announce that it has
created an award category to recognize original video content for
computers, cellphones and other handheld devices like the video iPod
and PlayStation Portable, writes Laura Holson in The New York Times.
Apple Computer’s glitzy entrance into the digital video business
has helped shake up the industry, but companies seeking rights to
distribute full movies to consumers via the Net remain stymied, at
least for now, writes John Borland on CNET. And therein is the crucial
difference for Editors Guild members, since the IATSE contract does
get residuals from feature films, but not from TV.
Hollywood Off-Lot Production Up, Says EIDC
Off-lot production in Los Angeles posted strong gains in September,
with feature activity jumping 42 percent over September 2004 while
TV rose 5 percent, according to figures released in October by the
Entertainment Industry Development Corporation, writes McNary in Variety.
Feature activity for the first nine months increased 11 percent over
the same period, the permitting agency said. The EIDC said the hike
in feature activity was due largely to the fading lure of foreign
locations thanks to the weak US dollar—which cannot be relied
upon for the long term, adds McNary.
AFL-CIO, CTW Hammer Out Local Collaboration Rules
While discussions with recently-disaffiliated unions continue, the
AFL-CIO is moving forward with a Solidarity Charter program that will
unite the labor movement at the local level. The program reflects
changes made in discussions with the Change to Win coalition. “We
are now ready to roll out the program and get about the work of building
strong, united state and local labor movements,” said AFL-CIO
President John Sweeney. Noting that while discussions on some issues
continue, Sweeney said, “No other differences remain that would
prevent the Solidarity Charter program’s implementation.”
“The end result is that the Change to Win local unions who want
to partner at the state and local level with state federations and
central bodies will be equal partners with the AFL-CIO affiliated
locals,” said CTW chair Anna Burger. “And at the
national level, Change to Win and the AFL-CIO will each pursue our
own strategies for giving workers a voice in their jobs and communities.”
AFL-CIO on ‘Executive Compensation Abuse Act’
“America’s working families are outraged by the growing
size of CEO pay packages. By any standard, today’s executive
compensation packages are excessive,” writes AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer
Richard Trumka. “In 1980, the average CEO of a major company
received 42 times the average worker’s pay. By 1990, that ratio
had reached 85 times, and today the average CEO takes home 431 times
the average worker’s compensation.”
Massive Labor Demonstrations in Australia
American union activists rallied in front of the Australian Embassy
in Washington in November to protest the Australian government’s
proposed changes to its labor laws. The legislation, introduced by
Prime Minister John Howard, would dramatically reduce the rights of
Australian workers to union representation, collective bargaining,
minimum employment standards and protection from unfair dismissal,
said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
Trade
unionists have called it the biggest demonstration in the country’s
history, writes Phil Mercer for the BBC. Much of the American media
turned away from this story. While the AP and CNN did cover it, searches
of a half-dozen major American papers came up with no coverage whatsoever.
More than 500,000 people joined rallies and meetings across Australia to protest against the conservative government’s proposed industrial relations laws. Union representatives, under this new law, would face fines of up to A$33,000 for simply asking employers to agree to protect workers from unfair dismissal, according to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).
In addition, the Howard government’s new sedition laws suggest that industrial disputes or matters may be labeled seditious, where there is an absence of “good faith.” Current “reforms” further push “Australian Workplace Agreements,” with the right to strike effectively being lost, while employer use of lockouts is encouraged, according to the Melbourne branch of IndyMedia.
An Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) is an individual contract on wages and working conditions between an employer and employee, under the Workplace Relations Act of 1996. According to the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the union movement generally, the AWAs are an attempt to undermine the collective bargaining power of trade unions.
“These appalling laws pose an immediate and extremely serious
threat to the livelihoods and rights of Australian workers. They represent
the most serious violations of internationally recognized labor standards
anywhere in the industrialized world, and the ICFTU and its international
trade union partners will support the Australian union movement in
every way it can,” said ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder, adding
“Prime Minister Howard would do well to heed the groundswell
of opposition to his plans.”
Prime Minister Howard’s landmark industrial relations reforms
became law Decem-ber 3 after they were navigated through a special
sitting of the Senate.
Union Repression on the Rise
Attacks on unions have increased over the past year as millions of
workers continue to be denied their rights and face repression. A
total of 145 people worldwide were killed because of their union activities
in 2004––16 more than in the previous year, according
to the International Confeder-ation of Free Trade Unions’ recent
survey of worldwide working conditions.
While the majority of serious violations took place in Asia and South
and Central America (Colombia topped the list with 99 trade unionists
murdered), the United States stood out among industrialized nations
as being tough on unions.
“Union-busting is big business, notably in the United States
where the use of union-busting consultants by employers is common
practice,” says the ICFTU Report. “The survey underlines
that 40 percent of all public sector workers in the country are still
denied basic collective bargaining rights, meaning that alongside
some 25 million private civilian workers, 6.9 million federal, state
and local government employees do not have the right under any law
to negotiate their wages, hours or employment terms.”
Coca-Cola Faces Labor Rights Lawsuit
Labor activist Terry Collingsworth, the executive director of the
International Labor Rights Fund, filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola
Company in New York on behalf of a group of former Turkish transport
workers, alleging abuse and coercion of union organizers, according
to an Associated Press release.
The complaint alleges that management at Coca-Cola Icecek A.S., Coke’s
Turkish bottler, arranged for the Turkish Cevik Kuvvet, a branch of
the Turkish police, to attack, gas and arrest workers and their families
at a peaceful demonstration in July to coerce them to quit organization
efforts at Coke facilities.
Who Killed Teamster Gilberto Soto?
November 5 marked the one-year anniversary of the assassination of
veteran Teamster organizer José Gilberto Soto in El Salvador.
Soto was in El Salvador building links with port workers in the region
when he was killed by gunmen outside his mother’s home in Usulutan,
60 miles from the capital, San Salvador, writes Joe Allen in the online
Counter-Punch.
“The Teamsters are not going to stand by idly,” said James P. Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “We are hiring an independent investigator to do a thorough investigation free from political influence.”
The Human Rights Institute of the Central American University cited demonstrated incompetence by the police and the Attorney General of El Salvador in public oversight of the investigation. They also decried the Salvadoran government’s use of “confidential sources,” a practice that has long been condemned by a broad range of international human rights organizations.
In the year since his death, no serious investigation has taken place into his murder and its possible link to his union activities, according to Allen. (See MAR-APR 05 Editors Guild Magazine for more information.)
Jeff Burman represents Sound Editors on the Guild's Board of Directors. He can be reached at jeffrey.burman@nbcuni.com.