General Hospital: July 2023 Discussion Thread

[Contessa Donatella]

@LisaAnnWalter Apparently she is outraged that soap writers are writing the show & that the show is in production, etc. 

[dragonflies]

Did someone explain to her that the soaps are under a different contract, ie the actor's?

[Errol]

Let's be clear. Her issue was writers who bypassed the union strike and are writing scripts. She's valid in her opinion on that.

Lisa is talking about writers. Not the actors.

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes. She wouldn't listen. Then she blocked about a dozen people. 

Indirectly it comes up because she then speaks of writers working on struck projects. Soaps aren't. 

[Errol]

 

[Contessa Donatella]

It seems to me that she's attacking Fi-Core writers. 

[Errol]

Which she should. They are union breakers. Soap writers fall into the same union and the same contract as all scripted TV and movie writers do. Only SAG-AFTRA has different contracts for its members.

For writers, GH is a struck project. Not for actors, however.

[dragonflies]

Good I'm glad she's not attacking the actor's. 

[Contessa Donatella]

It seems to me that they're following a process, that they're doing it the right way & that it is a necessary evil. I agree that they are scabs. That's just definitional. In the past soap writers wrote the shows, were scabs & did all sorts of cloak & dagger to get away with it. Is Fi-Core not better? 

Okay. I'll have to mull that over. Thank you, though. 

[Errol]

No, it is not better. The "process" is just a legality. Anyone working during a strike is forgoing any long-term benefits won after the strike is over because their voice within the union is non-existent and they'll never be recognized by the union in terms of awards and they put themselves in jeopardy of never getting another writing gig again. Unless one is guaranteed employment at their show for the rest of their lives, Fi-Core is the worst thing one can do.

[Contessa Donatella]

So, ideally, who should be writing the shows?

And, I begin to see why so many writers fought with other writers about Fi-Core in the past. 

Why do so many do it, then? 

[DramatistDreamer]

Facts!

[dragonflies]

FI CORE still pay dues? If so then why? 

[Errol]

Ideally, no one. With non-union writers writing during a strike, the show should have shut down. I don't like that option. You don't like it. But that's the point of the strike. The fact that the soaps continue without scab/fi-core writers goes against everything the union stands for. That said, if someone chooses to do so (scab/fi-core), it benefits the show long-term but hurts the individual the most.

Yes, when you turn your back on the union, which is what scabbing/going fi-core is, it creates internal conflict with members who did strike and fought for the benefits they all will enjoy under the new contract. It's like if you sat out in the sun for 48 hours to win a car. Why should someone who didn't also get a car?

Essentially those who go fi-core or scab do it for money. I'd say power, but there's no guarantee they'll even have a job when the strike is over. So, pure money. 

Full benefits of the union, except will be frowned upon when writing jobs become available in terms of hiring, and won't be eligible for recognition by the union come awards time. Again, money.

[dragonflies]

Why do they even pay if they're FI CORE and it's so looked down upon? Why accept their dues? I mean that seems hypocritical IMO