While the methods of production and distribution have transformed several times over, every industry-wide strike since 1950 has been about residuals. Residuals have historically been the most hard-fought battles. Now there is streaming, and AI.
If the ongoing film and TV writers strike is successful, the Writers Guild of America could establish a model for how service sector, app-based gig workers can take on Silicon Valley.
The contract that the writers are striking for could set a powerful precedent that AI must work for people, rather than being used to marginalize people to juice profits.
As streaming content has boomed, the Writers Guild of America says that new media models like Netflix and other online platforms have steadily eroded workers' pay and writers' ability to earn a living in Hollywood. Some 11,500 members are on strike.
Writers, producers, stylists, and other workers on “Trisha’s Southern Kitchen” and “The Kitchen” are forming a union with the Writers Guild of America, East
A spate of acquisitions, including Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal for Activision Blizzard, marks a flashpoint among organizers looking to make inroads in a mostly nonunion industry.
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