"Toxic" Studio-Union Relations?

The weekend Variety had this piece by editor Peter Bart plastered across it's front page:

There's growing alarm about the toxic relations between management and the talent guilds, and with good reason. The Hollywood community increasingly is taking on some disturbing characteristics of Iraq. There are hints of tribalism where once there was unity, and the rhetoric has taken on a tone that is more messianic than rational.

In TAG's little corner of the world, studio relations have always been up and down.

In the mid nineties, we had not great relations with Warner Bros. Animation, but fine comradely love with Disney. In Warners case, there was an attack dog vice president in its labor relations department that made things difficult. Happily, he went on to well-funded retirement and things smoothed out. Disney at the time was booming and we had several officers and board members working there. Cooperative TAG-Mouse House events were held. TAG was training lots of artists and the Disney Feature Animation was hiring. What was not to like?

Today, Warners is fine (and the studio smaller) while Disney -- with its multiple waves of layoffs and management changes -- has evolved into what I would call an "interesting" relationship. DreamWorks, which didn't exist in the early to middle nineties, has its own twists and quirks. But we always have pleasant lunches.

Let's face it: Union and management are never going to be bosom buddies, since they're natural opponents. Unions and guilds want more benefits and wages for their members, while studios -- unsurprisingly -- want to spend the smallest amount possible to get their product out. The current contract struggles are simply the ever-present evidence of that. As Peter Bart observes:

Thus far there's been more rhetoric than reason, but [contract] deadlines are suddenly approaching. The WGA contract expires Oct. 31, but few expect an immediate strike. The DGA contract expires June 30, the same day as SAG's, but while the directors habitually work from a carefully crafted script, the actors tend to be far more theatrical in their negotiating strategy.

There was a time when Universal's fabled Lew Wasserman would sit down with management and then with the Guilds and hammer out a deal. No one today wields Lew's hammer.

The Universal hierarch surely would be reminding his brethren that Hollywood is living very well at this moment, that the benefits packages are rich and so are the paychecks. A strike or lockout would have catastrophic results on all sectors of the community. The moves and countermoves already being made in anticipation of a strike are causing severe disruptions in the workflow.

Hollywood is too wealthy and well-calibrated to fall into tribalism. I don't want to face lunch with a studio Shiite. Or even a WGA Sunni.

When we've moved past the current kerfluffles and look back on 2007 and 2008, I think we'll recognize them as challenging times. But hopefully not too challenging.