I understand from the Internet and newspapers, that television writers are on strike. This barely effects me as the next time I watch their product will be the first time in years. It does bring up the subjects of broadcast media and unions, and they do effect me.
Unions could be innocuous, but that would be a fluke. The moment one or more people become committed to the union as an employee, it develops a life of its own. Their primary objective becomes the health of the union. Their product is a strong union, not a motorcycle, trombone, groceries, television script or whatever the folks they are supposed to represent have chosen to do with their productive hours.
I started and operated 3 businesses. Two I sold to move on. One I lost to big-money competition and a sharp upturn in expenses. In each I worked long hours and hung on by my fingernails to deliver good service at an attractive price, pay the bills and employ some folks at a wage that kept them interested in working there. In every case, for every individual employee, I had to provide the right combination of working conditions, benefits and compensation that kept my coworkers interested in keeping our company successful without pricing my product out of the market.
I have also seen the other side of the employer-employee relationship with over 25 years working for others. Long before I realized I was a contrarian, I was the only non-union employee in a county government “union shop”. I had my own bills to pay and the salary of this job had to compete with others where I got to keep my earnings without carrying an extra parasitical burden.
Unions are the best sales pitch for never becoming emotionally or financially dependent on your own business. You always must be willing to say, “If you have it figured out better than I do, It’s yours” (with a reasonable sale price on assets). You should never be held hostage to something you created, worked for and own.
The TV-writer union’s claim is that their members have to keep their present jobs but deserve different compensation. The slaves want improvements in their gruel.
That is ridiculous. A good writer is a prize. Go work for someone else. Write freelance. Produce your own show. Write books, magazines, blogs or comic books.
Oh, they have problems with that. Aren’t they good writers? This is the best writing job they could get?? Nobody else wants them??? In that case, they are obviously not underpaid as writers and should promptly, meekly shuffle back to work grateful for whatever compensation is being offered.
“A handful of networks dominate the airwaves. There is no competition for writers in the limited market of audio-video broadcast.” AH! Now that does put a different slant on things. Government agents sold and enforce exclusive public airwave rights to a handful of people (who contribute extraordinary amounts of money and publicity to political campaigns and make sure treasonous activities aren’t reported in their media).
Yes, that is a problem. However I note the union isn’t interested in addressing it. It’s not their problem. Theirs is a constant flow of union dues… and an increase is always welcome.
Our problem is the inane product dominating the airwaves that somehow became exempt from our First Amendment right to free speech. Our problem is the symbiotic relationship between an excessively powerful government and the artificial business entities it created and protects. Our problem is a government run amok that has eliminated the balance envisioned with an investigative, critical fourth estate. The framers of our Constitution knew a critical media was crucial to retaining life, liberty and property. That is why they put the protections into the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
TV-writer union demands are mere symptoms. Neither they nor the programees sitting in front of the reruns get sympathy from me.