Divided they stand: Hollywood unions in the information age

Catherine McKercher, null; Vincent Mosco, null

doi:10.13169/workorgalaboglob.1.1.0130

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 1, Issue 1

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Divided they stand: Hollywood unions in the information age

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Author(s): Catherine McKercher , Vincent Mosco

Publication date (Print): Winter 2006-2007

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

In an effort to increase labour power, trade unions representing communications and creative workers in North America have pursued a form of convergence, merging with each other and restructuring themselves along similar lines to their employers. This paper examines the issues surrounding labour convergence by taking up the failed merger between the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. It finds that, although the leaders of both unions supported the merger, the particular characteristics of the unions, including their culture, sense of craft identity and the lived experience of members, derailed the effort.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Winter 2006-2007

Volume: 1

Issue: 1

Pages: 130-143

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.1.1.0130

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.1.1.0130

SO-VID: ee22dd85-57ba-444c-b679-269436e3a3a8

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

References

AFL-CIO (2005), ‘AFL-CIO Executive Council Announces Formation of First Industry Co-ordinating Committee Covering the Arts, Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Industries’, News Release, Washington, 6 Oct.
AFTRA (2004) ‘AFTRA Board Approves Sweeping Overhaul of Union's Structure’, News release posted on www.aftra.org 10 July. Accessed 16 March 2006.
AFTRA (2003) ‘AFTRA consolidation plan’, AFTRA Magazine, Winter:3–5.
AFTRA (2006) ‘AFTRA introduces national president's message podcast on website’, News release posted on www.AFTRA.org 4 Jan. Accessed 16 March 2006.
AFTRA (2006) ‘A Small Slice of AFTRA History’, www.aftra.org. Accessed 16 March 2006.
Armbrust, Roger (2005) ‘SAG's Christie Rebuts Rosenberg, Who's N.Y.-Bound’, Backstage.com, 3 Nov. Accessed 16 March 2006
Bahr, Morton (1998) From the Telegraph to the Internet , Washington: National Press Books,
Batstone, Eric (1984) Working Order: Workplace Industrial Relations over Two Decades , Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Chaison, Gary N. (1986) When Unions Merge , Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books
Connell, Angel (2003) ‘AFTRA/SAG's Failed Consolidation and its Impact on New England's Acting Community’, New England Entertainment Digest , 29 July. Posted on www.jacneed.com. Accessed 16 March.
Constitution and By-Laws (2003) Screen Actors Guild, July.
Cooper, Marc, (2001) ‘Residual Anger’, The Nation , April 2. Posted on www.thenation.com. Accessed 16 March 2006.
Dyer-Witheford, Nick (1999) Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High Technology Capitalism , Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press
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Kline, Stephen, Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter (2003), Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture and Marketing , Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press
Lipset, Seymour M., Martin A. Trow and James S. Coleman (1956) Union Democracy: The Internal Politics of the International Typographical Union , Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press
McKercher, Catherine (2002) Newsworkers Unite: Labor, Convergence and North American Newspapers , Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield
McNary, Dave (2005) ‘SAG looks to law on runaway prod'n’, Variety.com, 26 Oct. Accessed 16 March 2006
Miller, A.L. (2006) ‘AFTRA, the Monkey on SAG Actors Backs.’, Posted on SAG Watchdog blog, www.sagwatchdog.com, 18 Jan. Accessed 16 March 2006
Mosco, Vincent (2005) ‘Here Today, Outsourced Tomorrow: Knowledge Workers in the Global Economy’, Javnost/The Public 12 no. 2:39–56
‘National Board Begins AFTRA Restructuring’, AFTRA magazine , Fall/Winter 2004/2005:3–4.
Prindle, David F (1988) The Politics of Glamour: Ideology and Democracy in the Screen Actors Guild , Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press
Robb, David (1999) ‘SAG-AFTRA ballots due at 5 p.m.’, The Hollywood Reporter , 25 Jan. Hollywoodreporter.com, accessed 16 March 2006
SAG (2006) ‘The History of SAG’ www.sag.org. Accessed 16 March 2006
‘It's still two parts for actors’, The Hollywood Reporter , 29 Jan. 1999. Posted on www.performersalliance.tv/archive/hr_Jan2899.html. Accessed 16 March 2006.
Stone Katherine V.W (2004) From Widgets to Digits: Employment Regulation for the Changing Workplace , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Swift, J. (2003) Walking the Union Walk , Toronto: Between The Lines
Terranova, T. (2004) Network Culture: Politics for the Information Age , London: Pluto
van Jaarsveld, D. D. (2004) ‘Collective Representation Among High-Tech Workers at Microsoft and Beyond: Lessons from WashTech/CWA’, Industrial Relations 43, no. 2 (April):364–85.
White, J. (2005) ‘Losing Canadian Culture: The Danger of Foreign Ownership of Telecom’, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: Trade and Investment Series, 31 October, Available at: <http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/National_Office_Pubs/2005/brief6_3_Losing_Canadian_Culture.pdf>.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] AFL-CIO (2005), ‘AFL-CIO Executive Council Announces Formation of First Industry Co-ordinating Committee Covering the Arts, Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Industries’, News Release, Washington, 6 Oct.

[2] AFTRA (2004) ‘AFTRA Board Approves Sweeping Overhaul of Union's Structure’, News release posted on www.aftra.org 10 July. Accessed 16 March 2006.

[3] AFTRA (2003) ‘AFTRA consolidation plan’, AFTRA Magazine, Winter:3–5.

[4] AFTRA (2006) ‘AFTRA introduces national president's message podcast on website’, News release posted on www.AFTRA.org 4 Jan. Accessed 16 March 2006.

[5] AFTRA (2006) ‘A Small Slice of AFTRA History’, www.aftra.org. Accessed 16 March 2006.

[6] Armbrust, Roger (2005) ‘SAG's Christie Rebuts Rosenberg, Who's N.Y.-Bound’, Backstage.com, 3 Nov. Accessed 16 March 2006

[7] Bahr, Morton (1998) From the Telegraph to the Internet , Washington: National Press Books,

[8] Batstone, Eric (1984) Working Order: Workplace Industrial Relations over Two Decades , Oxford: Basil Blackwell

[9] Chaison, Gary N. (1986) When Unions Merge , Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books

[10] Connell, Angel (2003) ‘AFTRA/SAG's Failed Consolidation and its Impact on New England's Acting Community’, New England Entertainment Digest , 29 July. Posted on www.jacneed.com. Accessed 16 March.

[11] Constitution and By-Laws (2003) Screen Actors Guild, July.

[12] Cooper, Marc, (2001) ‘Residual Anger’, The Nation , April 2. Posted on www.thenation.com. Accessed 16 March 2006.

[13] Dyer-Witheford, Nick (1999) Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High Technology Capitalism , Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press

[14] Eggerton, John, (2005) ‘Unions consolidate to face merged media.’ Broadcasting & Cable , 11 Oct.

[15] Goldstein, Patrick, (2005) ‘His Union Divided Cannot Stand’ Los Angeles Times , 4 Oct. 2005:E1.

[16] Horwitch, Lauren (2005) ‘AFTRA Tackles Finances’, Backstage.com, 22 July 2005. Accessed 16 March 2006

[17] Huws, Ursula (2003) The Making of a Cybertariat: Virtual Work in a Real World , New York: Monthly Review Press,

[18] Katz, Harry C. (ed.) (1997) Telecommunications: Restructuring Work and Employment Relations Worldwide , Ithaca, NY: ILR Press

[19] Kiefer, Peter (2003) ‘SAG-AFTRA merger proposal shot down’, The Hollywood Reporter.com, 2 July. Accessed 16 March 2006.

[20] Kline, Stephen, Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter (2003), Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture and Marketing , Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press

[21] Lipset, Seymour M., Martin A. Trow and James S. Coleman (1956) Union Democracy: The Internal Politics of the International Typographical Union , Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press

[22] McKercher, Catherine (2002) Newsworkers Unite: Labor, Convergence and North American Newspapers , Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield

[23] McNary, Dave (2005) ‘SAG looks to law on runaway prod'n’, Variety.com, 26 Oct. Accessed 16 March 2006

[24] Miller, A.L. (2006) ‘AFTRA, the Monkey on SAG Actors Backs.’, Posted on SAG Watchdog blog, www.sagwatchdog.com, 18 Jan. Accessed 16 March 2006

[25] Mosco, Vincent (2005) ‘Here Today, Outsourced Tomorrow: Knowledge Workers in the Global Economy’, Javnost/The Public 12 no. 2:39–56

[26] ‘National Board Begins AFTRA Restructuring’, AFTRA magazine , Fall/Winter 2004/2005:3–4.

[27] Prindle, David F (1988) The Politics of Glamour: Ideology and Democracy in the Screen Actors Guild , Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press

[28] Robb, David (1999) ‘SAG-AFTRA ballots due at 5 p.m.’, The Hollywood Reporter , 25 Jan. Hollywoodreporter.com, accessed 16 March 2006

[29] SAG (2006) ‘The History of SAG’ www.sag.org. Accessed 16 March 2006

[30] ‘It's still two parts for actors’, The Hollywood Reporter , 29 Jan. 1999. Posted on www.performersalliance.tv/archive/hr_Jan2899.html. Accessed 16 March 2006.

[31] Stone Katherine V.W (2004) From Widgets to Digits: Employment Regulation for the Changing Workplace , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

[32] Swift, J. (2003) Walking the Union Walk , Toronto: Between The Lines

[33] Terranova, T. (2004) Network Culture: Politics for the Information Age , London: Pluto

[34] van Jaarsveld, D. D. (2004) ‘Collective Representation Among High-Tech Workers at Microsoft and Beyond: Lessons from WashTech/CWA’, Industrial Relations 43, no. 2 (April):364–85.

[35] White, J. (2005) ‘Losing Canadian Culture: The Danger of Foreign Ownership of Telecom’, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: Trade and Investment Series, 31 October, Available at: <http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/National_Office_Pubs/2005/brief6_3_Losing_Canadian_Culture.pdf>.