Two Actor Unions Ban Their Members from Working on Tyler Perry's Latest Stage Production

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Indiewire

By Tambay A. Obenson

This is at least the second time that Tyler Perry has had a run-in with an industry union. You may recall when, in 2008, the Writers Guild of America West filed an "unfair labor practice complaint" against Perry's production studio after it fired four writers (all African American) who worked on his then TBS comedy, "House of Payne" - firings that were said to be because the writers were seeking union representation.

Perry also allegedly refused to agree to a WGA contract that would give the writers health care benefits or pensions.

The WGA said that the four writers were fired after negotiations between the Writers Guild and representatives of Perry's production company, broke down. The writers were also working on the development of what was then a new comedy being produced by Perry, "Meet the Browns."

Attorneys representing Perry said that the writers' firing had nothing to do with the contract negotiation but was instead related to "the quality of their work." Specifically, this is from their statement: "We continue to work toward a resolution of their contract, and after months of negotiations we have reached agreement with the Guild on every major issue but one - residuals from repeats shown on broadcast television stations."

FULL story at link.



"Madea on the Run"


Read more: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/two-actors-unions-ban-their-members-from-working-on-tyler-perrys-latest-stage-production-20150810

[mtasselin]

1. shame

I was never a big Tyler Perry fan and now this man is trying to push down the rights of other people, have you no shame Mr. Perry.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. If the writers were fired because of the (lack of) quality of their work,

he should probably have fired ALL of the writers for all of his movies...

[GOLGO 13]

3. Continue to dress in womens colothes Perry. Nobody suspects a thing.

I don't care for his particular brand of..."humor". Meh.

[Roy Rolling]

4. Poor Tyler

All this at the same time they are announcing a gigantic studio project in Atlanta costing bazillions.

Who'd have known filmmaking is nearly 100% union?

Really, Tyler? You're going to squeeze your employees and force them to negotiate with you , your attorneys, and your executives one-on-one without the benefit of having a team on their side?

You have just witnessed the crash and burn of Tyler Perry projects. No more "he gets a break" because he is the Horatio Alger story of making good. He will be treated like a weasel producer and his business just got infinitely harder.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. After Dallas they go to NYC, theater seats 2,800 and prices are $60-$100

If the entire house was sold at $60, that's $168,000 per performance, there are 8 a week. $1.35 Million a week if sold at the bottom rate, so Tyler is raking in a couple million a week on this, and is still unwilling to provide living wages and benefits to his actors, in his own damn cast.

Vile.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

6. I've never understood how writers can be unionized.

Teachers. Yes. Firefighters. Yes. Nurses. Yes.

Numerous professions can and should be unionized, imo.

Writing, however, is a totally creative craft. Does the union protect a writer if he has writer's block? If she's not writing what the producer wants?

How does that work?

[angrychair]

7. WGA protects their rights

Just like it does for any other job. Without a union writers are treated like property and not people.
No benefits, absurd hours and can get fired after doing most of the work and loss rights to their work through hostile contract arrangements that, without a union, they have no leverage to change. Most writers are people you never hear about...these people aren't movie stars or directors.
Entertainment industry unions (SAG and WGA are the best known but their are dozens that protect the rights of everybody from the electricians to the prop designers to CGI effects designers).

Unions are always the right answer, no matter your job.

[REP]

9. 'Writer's block' rarely happens when writing for someone else, on a team and on the clock

Unions prevent writers from being screwed over on residuals, workplace conditions, hours, etc.

[Cal Carpenter]

11. We're talking about people writing for a specific job

You don't get to claim 'writers block' and still get paid when you are writing for a living. And most paid writing gigs aren't particularly creative anyway.

In a steady gig like this, if you can't/don't get it done, you get fired. Everybody has good days or bad days, like any other job - you are more productive sometimes than others, but if you consistently don't write what your boss wants, you lose your job, just like if a nurse blows off his/her duties, or a firefighter doesn't show up to the fire, or anything else.

Much of writing is piecemeal these days anyway - get paid per item/pg/word/assignment as a contractor. One more reason why union protection is so important in writing, as in all other professions..

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

13. Ok. So the union doesn't try to fight an employment termination?

If you don't like the writing, that person can be fired?

That's the only part I was wondering about, really.

[Cal Carpenter]

14. I don't know where you get the impression that any union can

protect a truly incompetent worker's job. That's a typical anti-union talking point but it generally isn't true. (Unless, of course, you are talking about cops, in which case their unions seem to help them get away with abuse of power to the point of murder on a regular basis. But that's a different convo...)

Of course a union will try to fight employment termination if the cause of termination is unjust - eg race/gender/age discrimination, retaliation for organizing, etc. But if a writer can't write, if there is 'just cause' to fire someone, of course they can be fired, and a union can't usually stop that from happening even if they try. Regardless of the particular industry.

[qwlauren35]

8. Unions...

I spent a few minutes googling Perry's record with unions. It's pretty bad. In fact, it appears that working for him is a nightmare. But it's so creative and such a career jumpstart that people put up with it. Maybe that's what it's meant to be - the McDonald's of the entertainment world. A good started place to get experience and a foot in the door, but not a place to stay and build a career.

I am sad to think that Perry does not offer health care or profit sharing, although I'm not sure how he would get around Obamacare. Hurray for Obamacare...

Interestingly enough, I have heard that Oprah's track record is equally dismal on unions.

And find myself wondering whether unions are a "black thing". Other than teachers' unions, I don't think I've known anyone in a union. When it comes to protection, I see black people going to the NAACP or EEO. But not unions. Perhaps if they were in unions, the NAACP and EEO would not come into play.

Just thoughts.

[Cal Carpenter]

12. Srsly?

Study unions in Detroit for the last 60 years.

Read about Malcolm X and the Black Panthers' international working class solidarity.

Just off the top of my head.

Just because you don't know something doesn't mean it's okay to spout ignorance. Google at your fingertips and all....

http://againstthetidebooks.com/books/a-black-revolutionarys-life-in-labor/

So two extremely wealthy people treat their workers like shit and they happen to be black, so maybe 'unions aren't a black thing'? In terms of being extremely wealthy black people, Oprah and Tyler Perry may be exceptional. In terms of being extremely wealthy people who bank on the labor of others? Same shit, different skin color.

[qwlauren35]

15. I googled.

Just one source. I'll do some more learning later.

From what I've read, while there are more blacks than non-blacks in unions, only 13% of all black workers are in unions. One in 10. So, me not knowing many people in unions is not surprising.

What is especially interesting is how more black people depend on the benefits of unions than non-black people. And this may be a reason why unions are taking such a beating. Just a hypothesis, no facts.

The statistics looked at people in unions in the 10 large metropolitan areas. Probably including Detroit? Maybe. 19% of black workers were in unions. So, 80% are not... more reason why I might not know a lot of people in unions.

I'm not saying that unions aren't powerful. But they only serve a small block of the American population, and a small block of the African-American population.

[qwlauren35]

16. Five articles.

More googling. Very interesting. Many unions blocked black participation. Even today, some unions are racist. Because of the discrimination, black people were strikebreakers, because it was the only way to get a foot in the door in some companies.

On the other hand, when unions have been inclusive of blacks, we have prospered. Black union workers make 35% more money than non-union workers in the same field.

The most interesting thing that I read was that African-Americans flocked to government jobs when they could not get work in the private sector. As a result, African-Americans LOVE "big government", because it's a source of jobs.

I have always been amused by people who cry for "less government", because I'm from Washington, DC, and people there rely on government for jobs. I think I have also questioned reduction in armed forces, because that means people lose their jobs.

At any rate, I sense that people who are pro-union are going to play up the black presence in unions, however, the national picture is mixed, and in some places, unions are anti-black.