UPDATE: Strike On Syfy Series ‘Face Off’ Over After Deal With IATSE

COMMENTS (17)

• Congratulations!!! Standing up for what’s right is scary, but look what it can achieve!

  Comment by Happy for them — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 10:04pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Congratulations to the crew! Health insurance and retirement benefits!!

  Comment by John — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 10:13pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Damn, I was hoping the union would crush this show, leaving SyFy in a scramble to fill the time slot with more scripted fare that might actually watchable. Just one more example of unions failing us.

  Comment by Cash — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 11:48pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Unions failed you because they don’t dictate the content? Wow, you suck.

    Comment by J — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 4:23pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Let’s call this what it is; a shakedown or better yet extortion.

  If the Syfy folks have any brains they will move the production to a friendly state, not one controlled by corrupt union owned politicians.

  Comment by Mark — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 4:37am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Unions kill every industry.

    move to New Zealand. I hear the unions do not control the place.

    Comment by A.Men — Thursday October 13, 2011 @ 11:55am PDT  Reply to this post

    • Like the 40 hour work week? Like safe working conditions where workers don’t end up dead, because management cares more about profits than lives? Like a world where children are don’t have to work in sweatshops, because, once again, management cares more about profits than lives? Like paid vacation? Like being able to see a doctor? Before unions fought for those rights and those protections, Americans regularly died in unsafe working conditions doing jobs that left them working for starvation wages. Women and children being locked in garment factories to die in fires. Men dying in mines. Working long hours for little pay, and often having to buy from “company stores” run by the very companies exploiting them. Union organizers literally gave their blood to fight that kind of crap. Even non-union industries had to improve things to compete for labor after unionization and union lobbying improved working conditions.

      I was born in raised in one of those states that is “friendly” to management. The copper mines used to all be union in Arizona. But Arizona is a right-to-starve state that is openly hostile to unions.

      The mine where all of the men in my family worked was bought by a South African corporation. They promised the workers a bunch of things. All they had to do was vote out the union. They stupidly did so. They were all summarily replaced by South African imports. Large parts of the mine were closed down. Now, there’s nothing in the town that provides livable wages. Young people leave as soon as they are out of high school. They don’t come back. The town is dying. That’s what getting rid of unions does for society: kills it.

      Comment by aznemesis — Monday December 26, 2011 @ 9:29pm PST  Reply to this post

• Everything wrong with IATSE summed up with the first word of the press release: “Victory!”

  This wasn’t about doing the right thing by workers this was about winning a game.

  Everyone is entitled to organize and demand better working conditions and compensation and some unions do well by their member. IATSE isn’t one of them.

  Comment by Giles — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 5:47am PDT  Reply to this post

• Woohoo!

  Comment by Mark — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 5:48am PDT  Reply to this post

• They certainly won the battle but not the war. Union shows are significantly more to produce like 40% overall. The budgets on every show have been radically reduced, from top to bottom. This will almost certainly mean if more shows unionize fewer shows will be produced, or they’ll be produced elsewhere. Medical insurance is great, I pay nearly 1k per month for my family. An abundance of work is greater offering more opportunities and consistent income.

  Comment by Sam — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 10:31am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Your percentage is not correct. Assuming the production already follows CA labor laws the only increase you’ll see is IATSE P,H & W which, assuming you have a term deal, is less than about 12%-15%. Plus, you, as a producer, can take advantage of the IA non-affiliate program. Although there’s currently some conflict about this between the IA & MPIPHP, specifically for reality shows, game shows, talk shows and award shows which requires attention from everyone.

    Comment by PR — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 11:23am PDT  Reply to this post

    • Nope, you’re wrong, PR. In some cases extra hires have to be made, and there are different rates for different positions, especially in post production, that can dramatically increase the costs. Not to mention rules for meal penalties, turn-around, etc., that are not covered by state law but are covered by a union agreement. The ripple effects are much more dramatic than people think (including the crew). I don’t know that the overall cost increase is 40%, but it is more than just the P, H and W.

      Comment by Knows — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 12:53pm PDT  Reply to this post

      • This assumes you pay low rates, blow through meals and work people all day and have them back on set with less then 8 hours turnaround? Indeed there are penalties for these incursions that exceed P,H&W but to not pay or honor these “rules” should go beyond a union agreement.

        Comment by PR — Thursday October 13, 2011 @ 10:15am PDT  Reply to this post

• UH OH. Will reality TV finally have to spend money to make their crap? Execs may reconsider the garbage they order.

  Comment by Rico — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 1:33pm PDT  Reply to this post

• My favorite post on the subject so far

  Comment by Guy in the biz — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 6:20pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I’m glad you’re all patting yourselves on the back for the few weeks of union hours given to those who devastated this production with their misguided strike. This company is a GOOD company with fair turnaround, overtime, meal breaks on time and well scheduled.

  What THIS strike did was foist a lot of extra hours upon the production staff that has to take the show through the post production process with considerably less resources now.

  This means all of the non union employees can look forward to 18 hour days (with no overtime), no holidays or holiday pay and no weekends (all for a lovely 5 day rate).

  This strike COST hard working people weeks of work for the mild edification of a very few who get to leave in the wake of mess they caused.

  Comment by Annoyed. — Saturday October 15, 2011 @ 11:12am PDT  Reply to this post

• What should all those non-union employees do if they want their weekends back?

  Organize!

  Comment by in the union — Monday April 16, 2012 @ 10:01pm PDT  Reply to this post