PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
by Nathan Shrader
Washington—The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor was founded in 1869, four years after the conclusion of the War Between the States. The founding fathers of what could be the most significant labor movement in the history of the world was started by a group of Philadelphia tailors who sought better working conditions, the end of child labor, equal pay, and work place safety.
Terance Powerdly's organization, which was developed as one of the first inclusive labor organizations in the nation (perhaps the first) refused to admit doctors, bankers, lawyers and others who were not physical laborers. Most significantly, the Knights of Labor were original opponents of the strike. The website www.knightsoflabor.org states that the Knights opposed the tactic of striking because "Strikes lead to misery and hardship for workers, and as history proves — ultimate defeat."
Flash forward to December 2007. 138 years later the United States has a federal minimum wage, illegal child labor, and working conditions that would be unrecognizable to those who joined the Knights back in 1869. Earlier this month the screenwriters' strike—lead by the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East—has put about 12,000 movie and television writers out of their offices and onto picket lines.
The question stands—for what purpose would a union which does not participate in physical labor need an organized strike to settle a dispute with film and television producers and networks? The union claims, according to a Nov. 5 New York Times article to seek "a large increase in pay for movies and television shows released on DVD, and for a bigger share of the revenue from such work delivered over the Internet."
The Times also indicated that these striking screenwriters assemble in small groups protesting outside of TV stations and studios. Outside Disney studios, members were chanting "Union Power!," attempting to rally others to their cause. Outside of Warner Brothers studios, the Times reported that 50 strikers showed up and complained about the cold conditions outside (60 degrees at the time in Burbank). Hardly reminiscent of the brutal beat downs given to union members during IWW activities of the early part of the 20th century.
Having formerly been affiliated with two labor unions, including one which represented hard working men and women who performed what could be classified as potentially risky physical labor and another that just milked members for campaign cash, I am slightly stunned at the hubris of screenwriters. These folks are attempting to win over public sympathy for an industry that is, by and large, based on sitting around plush offices, writing horrible scripts for atrocious television programs and movies which America could do without.
The Knights of Labor and the early labor movement had to contend with strike-busting bully tactics, shootouts with the Pinkertons in Homestead (Pennsylvania), the horribly negative public perception of union activism after the Haymarket affair, and vigilantism against union members by the American Protective League (APL) in Chicago. These early union members and organizers would likely be ashamed and embarrassed by this entire incident.
There is a silver lining and a golden opportunity at hand for the American public. While writers are striking, popular (and disastrous) television shows that fill our houses with anti-intellectual, morally suspect, violence-filled programming are heading into re-run mode. Don't get me wrong, as much as I'll miss new Family Guy and Saturday Night Live episodes, I will get over it and I suggest that everyone out there in TV Land will do the same.
Reruns don't make for ratings, which is what the screenwriters are banking on, hoping that producers and network fat cats understand that old installments of Moesha just don't pull in the same sort of ratings as brand spanking new installments of Scrubs.
I contend that reruns may help promote the intellectual revival that America so desperately needs. If this strike runs long enough, Americans are bound to get sick of old reruns of The Daily Show, last year's episodes of the , and hopelessly mind-numbing reality shows about obese, sex-addicted, hapless morons either locked in a house together or forced to dance with Donny Osmond.
The result could be that people across the nation will turn off their televisions (with the exception of football, of course), pick up a book, have an actual conversation with their family members, engage in a debate on Iraq policy, or even go outside and get some exercise that will clear ones mind to have that conversation about whether we should be pulling for Musharraf, Bhutto, or nobody in Pakistan.
To you, the screenwriters, I wish you well and I hope that you milk the studio bosses for all they're worth. In the meantime, I hope that your strike lasts long enough for Americans to realize that CSPAN and news networks exist, that books are sitting on their shelves collecting dust, and that intellectual discourse awaits if they just tune out, turn off, and let television fall by the wayside.
Nathan Shrader can be reached at nathanrshrader@yahoo.com
