Latest in Labor

Late Friday evening, the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East have sent out a joint letter to membership outlining two new ways to connect with a franchised agent or manager. Earlier this month, the WGA reached out to personal managers to connect them with writers who are looking for new…

EXCLUSIVE: The Anita Hill-led Hollywood Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality will conduct a survey next month of entertainment industry workers so it can put into place a wide range of strategic initiatives being developed to address the twin issues of harassment and bias. Based on the…

SAG-AFTRA national executive director David White has condemned a social media post that he described as a "threat" against Gabrielle Carteris, the union's recently re-elected president. "It has come to our attention that elected leaders have been threatened," he said in an email to the guild's board of directors…

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that expands unemployment benefits for California film crews whose jobs here take them to other states. SB 271, which takes effect in January, also expands state disability insurance and family leave benefits for film and TV workers whose jobs here take them out of state. The new…

Ivar Carlson, the former business agent and treasurer of the now-defunct IATSE Local B-935 in Worcester, MA, has been sentenced to one year of probation for embezzling union funds. According to the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston, Carlson embezzled approximately $37,000 from the local from 2007-16 by "regularly…

EXCLUSIVE: Seems Hollywood's top legal mandarin has hit a raw nerve with the re-election seeking head of the WGA West and the latter wants the former to stay in his lane. "Ken Ziffren is an experienced lawyer, which means there are some things he should know and some things he fully understands that he can’t know,"…

"Seeing the handwriting on the wall, two days ago the WGA dismissed without prejudice its state court case against the four agencies and simultaneously filed a counterclaim to the suit that was brought against three of the agencies for antitrust violations on the part of the guild," Ken Ziffren said Wednesday as he…

Mallory Rubin and Sean Fennessy, two of the founding editors of Bill Simmons’ sports and culture site The Ringer, are moving up in the ranks. Rubin has been promoted to editor in chief of The Ringer, effective October 1, as Fennessy hands over editorial reins and becomes Chief Content Officer. Both have been with the…

Oscar-winning screenwriter Adam McKay is urging writers to stand in solidarity with the Writers Guild in its ongoing agency campaign — at least in public. "The WGA is a union," he tweeted. "The whole reason they call a 'union' a union is because our strength comes entirely from staying united. If members disagree…

Two former senior officials of the city of Boston, including the former head of its film office, were convicted in federal court today in connection with extorting the producers of the 2014 Boston Calling music festival by forcing them to hire members of IATSE Local 11. No charges have been brought against the union…

SAG-AFTRA presidential candidate Matthew Modine is taking on what he calls the "repugnant" disparity in pensions between the union's members and its staff. "I've been asked by hundreds of SAG-AFTRA members if I could explain the pension discrepancy that exists between our union members and the SAG-AFTRA staff that we…

SAG-AFTRA's 10-month strike against the Bartle Bogle Hegarty ad agency is over, with the agency agreeing to sign the guild's newly negotiated commercial contract. It's a major victory for the union, which had engaged in picketing, mass rallies and shaming in its efforts to get BBH to return to the union fold. Under…