[blindhippo]

I don't care what kind or style of job - if the balance of power in any labour relationship is overwhelmingly on the employer side, collective action is the only way labour can regain a modicum of negotiating power. To think that the style of job has any bearing on this relationship is naive.

[gedy]

I do agree collective action specifically can help, but not via organizing with a modern American Union.

[devilbunny]

The laws under which unions are organized have a huge influence on their effectiveness, and American unions are consequently... not that great.

The United Auto Workers partially funded the Port Huron Statement authored by Students for a Democratic Society, a generally socialist group. Now, it's entirely plausible that the UAW leadership wanted to have some modicum of influence, and that's why they loaned them an entire union retreat on Lake Huron. But I doubt that the average UAW factory worker was excited to see their union dues used to provide elite college students with a mostly-free vacation for political organizing.

I am not a labor law expert by any means, but my understanding of, say, German labor law is that it's much better at actually representing the workers in a given factory, in part because a union that doesn't do that loses its members to ones that will (since there's no requirement that everyone in a given job class has to join the same union).

[mlrtime]

>collective action is the only way labour can regain a modicum of negotiating power.

Does collective action mean everyone gets paid the same? If not, how does that work exactly?

[triceratops]

No it doesn't mean that.

The way it works in the movie industry is actors or writers can sign a contract with minimum union terms. Or, if they're a big name, their agent negotiates a contract on their behalf.

From time to time the union membership will want improvements or changes to the minimum terms. If they don't get these terms then the union - stars and everyone else - goes on strike.

These strikes are well publicized. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them.

[mlrtime]

I've only heard of one during covid, and mostly people didn't care (IMO).

[triceratops]

> mostly people didn't care

I don't know what that means.

[mlrtime]

You asked if I heard of [the] hollywood strike, I have. I didn't care because most of what hollywood puts out is not worth consuming.

The writers could go on strike for years, so what?

[triceratops]

You don't have to care. None of the parties involved care if you care or not. On the other hand, if you had an open mind about this topic, you'd see that strikes work based on this evidence.