(originally posted Saturday, May 02, 2009)
*****
As I said, I had several discussions and arguments with Steve Hulett. Pretty much amounting to nothing more than me venting my displeasure with the wasting of funds.
There really was very little that could be done about it from a 'member' standpoint.
Frustrating? Sure! you bet...but it is what it is. You voice your two and a half bits and move onto other things in your life.
That frustration kicked up a notch when the industry was really starting to feel some of those pains. Many people were being laid off in pretty much all the studios. Disney, Dreamworks, Warner Brothers, etc. Many people were gravitating towards the television studios. Places like Philm Roman, Nickelodeon, Klasky Csupo, Cartoon Network, WB TV....These places were doing things and.. were hiring.
What irked me, is that the illustrious fearless leader of the union...a one Tom Sito...sent out a letter in the union newsletter (The "pegboard") slamming those who would work in Television. slamming those that are working in 'non union houses'. People that (like those in the union) have families and bills to pay and mortgages hanging overhead.
People with responsibilities.
Slamming them and besmirching them, saying that they are hurting the animation industry by doing so. Harming the industry and harming those in the industry by daring to go against the union grain and work in 'non union' houses.
In short...vilifying them.
"DON'T WORK AT THEM UNTIL THEY COME AROUND AND SEE THE LIGHT! UNTIL THEY JOIN!"
"Of course. I mean after all numbskulls, they (non union shops) don't care about you. All they (non union shops) want to do is get cheap labor, send things over seas, lay you off at a moments notice. Take advantage of you! YOU NEED US ( the 'Union') to PROTECT YOU!"
Uh huh...yeah.
IT was no big surprise...(not to me anyway) to learn that Warner Brothers Feature Animation back in 2000 was (yup..you guessed it) OUTSOURCING WORK.
To Canada (and other places if I'm not mistaken. But definitely Canada). Animation, Clean-up, Inbetween, you name it.
"WHOA WHOA WHOA! Handel...Isn't Warner Brothers a Feature Film studio? That would make it a UNION SHOP, right?"
Yuuuuuuuuuup. That would make it a union shop. The very same Union that REQUIRES you to join the Union in order for you to work at feature film studios like Warner Brothers. Cuz after all, You need to be UNION so that they can protect you! After all..you don't want things to be like the NON UNION houses (like Television) where your jobs are shipped somewhere else do you?
Here's the real kicker though. Who do you think was the animation Director on the Warner Brothers release ('osmosis jones') at that time ?
TOM SITO...... UNION PRESIDENT
How do ya like them cranapples?
The very same Tom Sito that chastised people for working in non union houses. Slammed those who would dare work in television.
He was working as an ANIMATION DIRECTOR at a UNION SHOP, on a film that was indeed OUTSOURCING animation gigs. To Canada.
Now...wouldn't you think that that might warrant some sort of dialogue around the round table at the union offices about possible conflicts of interest..or maybe how doing so would in essence make him (Sito) the epitome of the 'ultimate hypocrite'?
How utterly ridiculous this would make him and the precious Union look?
Now, I know that there was some blow back on this. ( I know I put my two bits in).
There was a response from him saying that its out of his control. He's just an employee at the studio.. and people have to work and so does he...(or some such nonsense).
Mind you...its not so much nonsense, because that's what everyone who were clamoring for the non union gigs when features hit the skids...that's what THEY were saying.
But to hear Tom Sito (union prez) say something even remotely close to that, especially after bashing those that were working in TV for doing so....
It seems to me, just out of sheer principal...it seems as though he should have stepped aside and said (and said loudly), that I can NOT accept this position as animation director for this film...as long as you are following policies that are against what my hard fought beliefs are."
"VIVA UNION !"
But again...that is only if you are a principled person.
I worked in Union feature houses, and I worked in non union television houses..and then I went back to features again. I, like most people in animation can speak about both working conditions.
when I went back to features, I worked at Sony Imageworks. Mind you...things were really bad in animation. And everyone knew it. That obviously included the studios.
It was a buyers market baby...and boy were they picking the fruits!!
Rampant exploitation. The studios were making people work longer hours with no overtime.
Coming right out and saying that if you didn't do what they (the studio) wanted and how they wanted it done...sayonara baby.
Steve Hulett, who is and has been the Union business rep...one of his duties (apparently) is to walk the halls of the studios, and say...""So..hows everything going?""
I saw him quite abit, and spoke to him (as many others did, no doubt) about what was happening at Sony.
His response was this...""Well..You could fill out a form..File a complaint...""
When asked about protection from being fired if we did so...He said:""Well..that is always the risk""
I asked : So what happens after a report is filled?
Hulett: ""We would call them and speak to them about it, bother them...."
ME: "that's it?"
Hulett: ""Well..that's about it, there's really not that much we could do at this point. The industry is really hurting. Buyers market...""
So...That's that.
Again...You are told that you are REQUIRED to join the union. For protection against the BIG BAD STUDIOS. But what it comes down to..is that there really is not alot that the union can do.
Other than bitch and whine about the non union houses that still hasn't bowed and kissed the union ring. Its not so much about 'protecting you' the worker. It is very much about getting more people signed in.
CORRECTION!
Getting more studios signed into the union and therefore EVERYONE IN THAT STUDIO (like it or not) forced to be in the union.
Why?
The more people signed...the more union dues that are collected. The more money taken away from you. The union stays fat and happy (see picture above).
Its a bizness folks! The Union is a bizness. Based on extortion.
Its Jesse Jackson without the black, and without the rhymes.
Now...while the union is yelling at the people who are working in non union houses ( Being scolded for doing so, by a union president who is himself - working at a FEATURE studio as an animation director....WHO IS OUTSOURCING WORK TO CANADA)
While all of that is happening...those people who have worked at both Union and non union shops find out some very interesting tidbits.
I can safely say that the most fun I've had was working in development at a feature house. The second MOST FUN I've had has been in NON UNION shops.
I have been more poorly treated at 'Union shops' then I have at non union shops. There is pretty much absolutely no difference in security. You can be laid off just as easily and just as quickly at a union shop as a non union shop.
You can also stay just as long at a non union shop as you could a union shop.
It all depends on what is happening at either place, really.
So lets look at it this way.
The union tells you its BETTER to be in the union than out of the union. But is it?
**There is no more security being IN the union than that of NON union.
**You can be taken advantage just as easily at a UNION shop as you could a NON union shop.
**The union says that the non union shops send stuff overseas but..so will ( AND DO) the union shops. By the UNION PRESIDENT himself!
** There's not much a Union can do (they're own words) if the studio starts to rip you off. The only difference is that the union is forcing you to pay them (the Union) so that they can tell you that!
At least with a non union shop, you are KEEPING that money.
I have, since that time, worked at non union shops exclusively. And I can tell you, that like any entertainment industry..you have ups and downs. But in the downs...there are the feelings of more control over things. Mainly because the jobs are more abundant, so that there is SOMETHING to always grab onto. Something to do.
A great deal of the reason that there are, is that the union is not there...screwing things up!
Unions can be a cancer. Not always..but often, they are. They can make things so difficult that they would rather people be out of work than compromise on an issue.
They would argue that, and argue that with vigor and passion no doubt!
But lets look at some examples.
Michigan: A bastion of Union activism...Michigan is in the toilet.
Most places that have a union at the helm are in the toilet.
Teachers Unions are killing American education. making it difficult to impossible to get rid of terrible teachers, and dumbing down our education to cover up for their incompetence.
The entertainment areas: When the writers strike hit, it affected TONS of other people in the industry. Besides the writers. So many people were hit and hit hard. People such as those that work as camera people, set builders, craftsmen, designers, etc etc. All because the union wanted to hold firm on a point.
People were hurt. People with families . And the union didn't give a damn.
There are so many examples of union caca..its not even funny. you see...Its not about teaching our kids. Its not about protecting the worker.
It is about acquiring power. And keeping it.
It's politics.
It means dragging money out of you or you don't work. It means pushing candidates that meet the unions political needs, To benefit the union--not the workers.
Baby cakes..you aren't even in the equation. BUT your invited to the meeting.
Have a slice of pizza (after all..you paid for it) and a beer, and shut the hell up.
The places with worker unions are in desperate desperate times. Across the country.
The ones that aren't shackled to the unions..... are doing better. Growing.
People are working, and people are thriving.
The people/workers as WELL as the businesses!
While the Places with Unions and the people forced to work under them are NOT.
Now tell me...isn't it time someone asks........."why"?
******
(ground properly scorched? Yes? moving on then..)
