The Uncomped

To add to Friday's thread:

I was saying that overtime without overtime payments has been going on a long time. But I've seen artists combat it in the following ways ...

1) I've seen departments at different studios work collectively to make sure a) Everybody took breaks at a set time; b) Everybody left at the prescribed quitting hour; c) Nobody worked over without authorization.

2) The Animation Guild has gone into studios and grieved for unpaid work. This involved the business representative getting confirmation that employees were working after hours without payment. (Sometimes this happens, sometimes not.)

3) The business rep has held meetings with departments and taken issues they have to producers of the show. Adjustments in scheduling were made.

Some General Operations

* The more unemployment there is, the more abuses creep into the studio environment. The less unemployment there is, the fewer abuses occur. (Call this "The magic of the market.")

* When employees act collectively they tend to have more leverage. (I'm not referring to "union action" here. I'm referring to groups of employees behaving like unionists and pushing back together -- most times without the union involved.)

So what else can be done?

Change your department's culture. Don't let peers work extra hours gratis.

Report unpaid overtime to the business agent. He'll take action in a variety of ways, after first strategizing with the reporting artist.

Come to the next General Membership Meeting on Tuesday, November 29th. At 1105 N. Hollywood Way. We'll be expounding on this subject.