#living wages

[odinsblog]

“One weird, silver lining positive from the WGA's strike has been a sense of calm over a reality that has plagued me with anxiety for years — the fact that despite having a great agent, manager, and lawyer, despite having been in hundreds of rooms with top execs and producers, despite having pitched countless networks, and despite having sold multiple pilots and pitches, I still work in food and bev. For so long, it felt like such an embarrassment in so many ways because it felt like I was the only one who was biding time in between sales with a side hustle. When I would tell people at work that I wrote television, they'd look at me like I had ten heads, or like I was delusional. They couldn't IMAGINE someone who *actually* wrote television would also be asking them what temp they wanted their salmon.

But the reality is, TV money goes fast, especially when it's just a pilot sale. And if shit doesn't get picked up to series, that money only lasts for so long. Being responsible meant swallowing my pride and keeping a job that was more consistent and steady but also gave me the ability to take pitch meetings, to write on my down time, do rewrites, answer e-mails, and take notes calls.

And for so long I thought I was a minority in that regard. Like I had done something wrong to not be successful enough to rely solely on my career as a writer.

Yet the strike has pushed SO many stories to the forefront of writers doing the exact same thing I've done, GOOD writers, great writers, writers who shit I watch all the time, whose names I instantly recognize, whose reputations in this industry precede them. So when the studios leaked that the goal was to bleed writers dry, to make it so we lost our homes, I had to laugh. Writers like me will literally do anything to keep the dream of writing alive. It's in us. It never goes away, no matter how many steaks you server, how many martinis you mix, how many cold calls you make, how many Uber passengers you pick up, how many pizzas you have to deliver. We always always always find a way to make it to that next great hope of a pitch, a sale, a green light.

And that's how you know that the CEOs are so fucking out of touch with reality. With the industry. With the POINT of the industry the point for most (not all, but most) has never been to be filthy rich, or own a yacht, or even have a membership to SoHo house. It's been to make something we love. To see it come to life, and make other people happy, or sad, or angry, or scared. To take this story you have kicking around your head and turn it into some epic journey. To be part of the process of making worlds and characters come to life. To tell stories.

The CEO's point has been to make as much money as humanly possible. And so they think that's all there is motivating writers. it's not. It never has been. Just because those CEO's wouldn't wait tables or mix drinks or drive a Lyft in order to keep a dream going, doesn't mean the rest of us wouldn't. The CEO's don't have a dream, they have a lifestyle. And I promise you a dream is a much better motivator than a yacht or a Porsche.

Try to bleed us dry, guys. Just because you'd let your own dream bleed to death, doesn't mean we would. We will always find a way to keep it alive.”

—Stefanie Williams, a tv writer on strike

[ivygorgon]

AN OPEN LETTER to THE U.S. CONGRESS

Put the Good Jobs for Good Airports standards in the FAA reauthorization bill!

104 so far! Help us get to 250 signers!

I’m calling on you to stand with working people, passengers and our communities by supporting Good Jobs for Good Airports standards (GJGA) in the FAA reauthorization bill. Airports should and can be strong, vibrant drivers of good jobs in every part of our country. The Good Jobs for Good Airports standards are central to that mission and our nation’s future prosperity. Billions of our public dollars are invested in our nation’s aviation system every year, and we must ensure that our public resources serve the public good. That includes ensuring airports better serve the needs of our families, our passengers, our communities and the airport service workers who make it all possible.

It is evident that our air travel industry is in crisis. From record flight cancellations during summer travel peaks to mountains of lost luggage during the holiday travel season. Airports are critical publicly-funded infrastructure vital to the health of our local communities and global economy, but right now airports aren't working the way they should for travelers or airport service workers — a largely Black, brown, multiracial and immigrant service workforce. These working people, including cleaners, wheelchair agents, baggage handlers, concessionaires and ramp workers, keep airports safe and running smoothly even through a global pandemic, climate disasters and busy travel seasons. Yet many are underpaid and underprotected--even as some major airlines rake in record profit and billions of our tax dollars are invested in our national air travel system.

Domestic passenger numbers increased by 80% between 2020 and 2021, total industry employment fell by nearly 14%, leaving airport service workers to sometimes clean entire airplanes in as little as five minutes as many take on additional responsibilities outside of their typical job duties. Meanwhile, wages have barely budged for airport service workers in 20 years. The Good Jobs for Good Airports standards has the power to transform workers’ lives by ensuring airport service workers have the pay and benefits they need to care for their families.

The Good Jobs for Good Airports standards would help build a stronger, safer, more resilient air travel industry by making airport service jobs good jobs with living wages and benefits like affordable healthcare for all airport workers. Airport service workers at more than 130 covered airports would be supported through established wage and benefit standards, putting money back into hundreds of local economies and helping families thrive. If passed over 73% of wage increases will go to workers making $20 or less, estimates show.

I urge you to include the Good Jobs for Good Airports standards in the FAA reauthorization bill, and help ensure our public money serves the public good.

▶ Created on September 20, 2023 by Jess Craven

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[foreveryonecollective]

a new world is growing. As our roots pierce the concrete - our imaginations blossom new realities the violence-based world can see.

Abolition is Creative Hoodie by For Everyone Collective - fashion free from harm.

[stressed-depressed-and-bored]

This is one of the very first results online when you search income vs cost of living. It is easy to read and easy to understand, and anyone young like me will recognize that this is true, as we are living this nightmare right now.

Anyone who doesn’t support a $20 minimum wage is ignoring the facts.

Anyone who doesn’t want to raise taxes and regulations against the ultra-rich and the mega-corporations is ignoring the facts.

The current income inequality in the United States of America is not only INSANE, but it is COMPLETELY NEEDLESS, as we ALL KNOW that these corporations can afford to pay $20 an hour. We ALL KNOW that these corporations are making record profits. We all know that the working class is being EXPLOITED right now.

We need something big to change this, NOW.

[ausetkmt]

'Innovation waves' can reduce the racial gap - Boston Business Journal

Recognizing that not everyone will be a founder, we also need to leverage innovation waves to change our workforce development strategy. In the past, the state used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for its employment and job forecasting. These forecasts told us the jobs in Boston were in relatively low-paying fields, such as food service and hospitality. Such jobs might require the city to invest in affordable housing for low-wage workers, and they won’t help reduce the racial wealth gap.

Instead, we need to provide vocational training for jobs in the innovation wave sectors. Boston has several college-behind-bars programs that could focus on these fields, and since many jobs in these fields can be done remotely, students could start work while incarcerated and already have jobs upon release. Jobs that can be done remotely are ideal for those with criminal records.

Bussgang emphasizes that Boston already has the businesses of the future, the colleges and universities to seed them, and over $120 billion of VC capital under management. Now is the time to take action that will enable us to funnel a significant portion of the projected $200 trillion value increase toward reducing the racial wealth gap in the greater Boston area and throughout Massachusetts. 

[purpleandpinkhouses]

The irony is that Dairy Queen is owned by Berkshire Hathaway cough Warren Buffet. A man that's worth over 143 BILLION dollars but heaven help us if DQs employees can somehow work there AND actually support themselves with a living wage. My how times have changed. In previous eras these types of jobs used to not only support a whole nuclear family but would also pay off a mortgage.

[monsieurenjlolras]

you've heard of "quiet quitting," now I'd like to introduce you to the next level, The French Work Ethic:

Do exactly what you're paid for and nothing more

Absolutely refuse to be available to contact when you're off the clock

Never prioritize work over your own health, wellbeing, or family because that would be insane, it's just a job.

Have a little glass of wine

Take as long as you feel like for lunch

Deeply understand that work doesn't matter

Make sure your boss knows they're always your second priority ❤️

[odinsblog]

[dispatchesfromtheclasswar]

[hyacinthsdiamonds]

Production houses: but if the writers stay on strike we can't guarantee the future safety of your favorite shows 🥺🥺😭😭

Viewers who 1, have already lost their favorite shows because they were cancelled in spite of good ratings and good reviews or 2, have stopped watching new content entirely until the entire series has aired and concluded as a result of so many good shows getting cancelled on cliffhangers and thus leaving said viewers unable to gain closure with those characters and with a hollow viewing experience, so they've begun a, watching older shows they know came to a planned conclusion or b, revisiting their old favorites and enjoying the nostalgia or c, reading new books or fanfic instead: YOU ALREADY CAN'T GUARANTEE THE FUTURE OF OUR SHOWS SO GET FUCKING WRECKED AND PAY WRITERS WHAT THEY DESERVE!

[foulmouthheart]

Lets support artists! We all can do little things (such as signing the petition) to make big changes!

If this works and everything goes well, it would give so many artists the chance to exploit their creativity, do what they love, express themselves freely -and more importantly- be recognized and fairly paid for their work. SO PLEASE, LET'S SHOW THEM WE CARE

LET'S SHOW THAT WE ARE HERE sign the petition and stay informed.

Let's support artists.

don't forget during the WGA strike that animation is not covered under the WGA deals and as a result animation has gotten the shortest possible end of the stick in under-staffing, under-paying, and generally turning the field into gig employment.

please sign the petition here for Disney to recognize animation production workers as a union and reblog this post!

[shadow-side-thoughts]

Workplaces be like

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[yassifiedrumpelstiltskin]

i support the film industry getting paid well but it's gonna be hard without any new content this, im so sad my favorite tv show is postponed whatever will i do that- have yall BEEN on netflix? like netflix alone??? not to mention other streaming platforms???? i promise that there are more tv shows that you could ever hope to watch and you will be ok

[hashtagloveloses]

the hollywood studios are the dumbest people alive bc now every american city with a large film/TV industry (LA, NYC, Atlanta, etc) are going to be overrun by grown up theatre kids (professional writers and actors) hanging out together in public for months on end with nothing to do but emulate newsies. whole american cities are about to look like the inside of a suburban dennys at 11 pm on a saturday after a high school musical closes. they have trapped millions of people in a hell of unimaginable proportions.

[odinsblog]