RE: WGA Strike!

PLEASE! read my evaluation of this strike below, do your own research and come to an educated conclusion before you write a negative comment.


Verified Facts:
7,641: The # of Writers Guild of America West Members
4,434: Hollywood guild writers who actually worked last year.
$204,000: Average salary of all members
Many members earned $1 million or more

WGA counter argument:
"An 'average' is a poor indicator of an ordinary worker's income."
"The median income of screen and television writers from their guild-covered employment is $5,000 a year"

NO ONE can even live on 5,000 a year EVERY YEAR. Especially if they live in one of the big urban media markets [LA, NYC, etc.] 5,000 would not even pay for a hotel room for a year in one of those cities, unless rent was 13 a day, not to mention food and utilities, which I assume are necessary for writing! The article weakens its own pro WGA argument. The article does not deny that the mean is 204,000, but instead it asserts that the median, 5,000 a year, proves that writers are impoverished. PLEASE! This means that that top half of the median is making a KILLING, this is obvious when you look at the fact that they super boost the average. For 50% of the members to make 5,000 or less, the top 50% must make a lot more money for the average to be so high. When you make that much money... why work every year? really!

To be a member of the WGA you do NOT need to be an active writer, only a writer at some time. Those actively writing are bringing up the average, while those living off savings gained from earlier works bring the median very low. FOR EXAMPLE: You study the incomes of 5 writers, two veteran WGA members writing and making nothing that year and living off savings, two making 10,000 this year off of royalties from an old DVD box set but also living lavishly from what they earned from the original TV production, and one who made 1 million that year writing for "24". The median would be "10,000 a year" but the mean would be "204,000 a year" [1,000,000 + 10,000 + 10,000 + 0 + 0 = 1,020,000 / 5 = 204,000]

If you could only make 5,000 a year writing NO ONE would do it... you can easily make like 15,00 flipping burgers! The WGA insults our intelligence by presenting a statistic that makes absolutely no sense. Furthermore, anyone with any background in statistics knows that with the many outliers in a income based data set, especially in a industry where you income makes working every year is far from necessary and the great deviations in pay working for different networks, a median means practically nothing and that an average [mean] is a much better number to use, though still not nearly perfect.

I'm disgusted that they would site "How to Lie With Statistics" when that is exactly what they planed to do!

The WGA is a greedy group of people. they have NO consideration for the people who are suffering from their strike. With production at a stand still the people who are suffering ARE NOT the writers, their lavish salaries have given them saving that allow them to strike practically indefinitely. The actors and executives are in the same boat, with smart savings and investment they could live off of what they have already made for the rest of their lives!

the people actually suffering are the people doing small jobs in the TV and film industry: stage hands, janitors, caterers, security, and the scores of individuals making close to nothing who have NO work because of the greed of the WGA!

And how about the millions of Americans working 2 or more minimum wage jobs just to feed their families! The ones who go home to watch TV only to be bombarded by commercials that mock their financial status by endlessly parading diamonds and new foreign cars, commercials that only serve to pay the greedy WGA members.

Also, when the networks inevitably cave in to these greedy monsters the networks will increase adds to regain revenue, making the episodes shorter, the writing shorter, and TV watching an even worse experience for viewers who still rely on television for an escape from the misery of the modern world.

shame on you all WGA!!! shame...

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• WGA
• Writers
• Guild
• America
• West
• East
• Anit
• Strike
• Greed

[pjohnson52]

good video, good facts on all

[WhatItDoShamoo]

hey thanks.

[camshaff]

I hear your message. While my son (an IA member put out of work by the WGA) has found new employment, he had to give up a dream he had worked his entire life to pursue. He has a family to support. Other IA (stage hands, cameramen, film & TV techs, etc.) members are losing their homes, having to pull children out of college, and have to start over so WGA members can secure their future. Thanks WhatItDoShamoo for being one of the few coureageous enough to post a sympathetic video.

[WhatItDoShamoo]

really?

they don't seem to be acknowledging this,

perhaps if they agreed to participate in talks with the industry they could at least look like they were concerned with a timely end to this thing.

...and end that would start work again for all effected and bring those people their lives back!

all they need to do is start barging like everyone else who ever had a cause.

-shamar

[BryyMillerson]

And I think the WGA knows this.

Salute.

SALUTE.

[WhatItDoShamoo]

i am very aware that they, and scores of other unions and organizations, are organizing to help affected crew out. But they are not making or contributing nearly enough to equal the salaries of the thousands of out of work crew.

I solute the WGA and other org's for their efforts, but they need to understand that these people have not been afforded the luxury of being able to go months with out work.

nothing they do will equal those hard working men and women getting their jobs back.

-shamar

[BryyMillerson]

You do understand that the WGA is hosting befits for the other crew, right?

[WhatItDoShamoo]

Not the "victims" smiling on TV as they they parade about knowing they and their families will go home to a meal and a comfortable house that is fully paid for.

Im talking about the people working in the industry whose paychecks don't afford such luxury. The ones loosing their homes and struggling to feed and cloth their families!

if you actually read my evaluation and commentary and combined that with the readily available facts and some common sense you would know that.

-shamar

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[WhatItDoShamoo]

unfortunately for your counter-argument [which is already extremely weak :(], you completely ignore my argument.

I'm not here to argue, like the studios, producers and WGA, about pennies. I am here to advocate for the real victims.

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