It looks likely that the Writer’s Guild of America, of which my father is a member, is probably going to go on strike tomorrow primarily over the studios’ unwillingness to pay so-called “residuals” — money that writers get when their shows or movies are shown on television or released on video — in digital media. The union explains the issues here if you’re interested.
Obviously, the entertainment unions are pretty small in terms of membership, but they’re one of the best examples out there of the idea that working people can advance their interests through unions even outside of traditional “hard hat” or public sector industries.
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