See WGA’s Documents Filed With NLRB

COMMENTS (28)

• The fact of the matter is that the NLRB is comprised of 5 members, 2 of which first served under Clinton and were reappointed by Bush. All seem to past experience representing business and labor interests alike. Like so many of the posts on this site, Anon’s comments are somewhat baseless in fact.

  Like most issues left to the law, whether or not the AMPTP is truly bargaining in bad faith is a very subjective matter. I’d say that the odds of the NLRB finding any cause to get involved do not favor the WGA. Regardless, the NLRB, like most tentacles of govt bureaucracy, will move too slowly to be of any help in ending this mess soon.

  Interestingly though, one of the things that is a violation of the NLR Act, according to the NLRB’s website, is “Striking over issues unrelated to employment terms and conditions or coercively enmeshing neutrals into a labor dispute.” Maybe that is why the WGA says that “there is room to negotiate” about Reality.

  Comment by jack — Friday December 14, 2007 @ 2:08pm PST  Reply to this post

• Hmmm. There’s Nick Coulter’s telephone and FAX number. I wonder if about ten million fans are interested in sending him a fax to tell him how much they disapprove of him. Hmmmm.

  i already left a message. and i will continue to barrage members of the amptp with letters, emails, phone calls and faxes as a way of showing support for the wga and the writers. i am a fan but more importantly i am person who believes in doing what is right and what is fair.

  i truly hopes this move serves you all well and know that ou have my support. go wga!

  Comment by scales of justice — Friday December 14, 2007 @ 6:08pm PST  Reply to this post

• *rolls eyes* The WGA struck is because our contract has expired and the AMPTP won’t negotiate an acceptable new one. The negotiations that would be going on if the AMPTP weren’t refusing to negotiate in any kind of faith would be contract negotiations, and it’s valid to raise virtually any issue for consideration in contract negotiations, therefore those provisions of the NRLA don’t apply and have nothing to do with the WGA’s motivations in negotiating (especially since no one is “coercing” anyone except the AMPTP, who are refusing to allow reality writers to work under WGA contracts, although they wish to do so, and also forcibly reclassifying them as producers to make them inelligible–does the NLRA say anything about it being illegal for employers to refuse to allow workers to organize?)

  The real reason why the WGA is saying there’s room to negotiate over reality is, well, either yet again we’re willing to sell our fellow writers in Reality down the river to gain traction on other issues, or it’s just basic negotiating 101, depending on your point of view.

  “The fact of the matter is that the NLRB is comprised of 5 members, 2 of which first served under Clinton and were reappointed by Bush. All seem to past experience representing business and labor interests alike.”

  *shrugs* Clinton wasn’t exactly the labor President either, Sam Walton meets NAFTA, and I can tell you that I know several labor negotiators (not WGA) and they’re all terrified of going before the board. They’ll do virtually anything to avoid that, including letting blatantly illegal behavior on the part of management pass. And as any negotiator can tell you there are plenty of people who started out representing labor and went over 100% to the dark side for the cash, so that doesn’t tell you anything either. Plus, it only takes 3 votes. I find it hard to believe that has Bush appointed incompetent hacks to undo the mission of virtually every other agency but somehow decided that he’d salvage a bit of the New Deal and take a pass on appointing intractable foes of labor to the NLRB. It’s possible, but I wouldn’t stake our futures on it without much better evidence than that.

  Comment by WTF? — Friday December 14, 2007 @ 9:10pm PST  Reply to this post