Putting Power Back in the Hands of Guild Members Dashboard Dashboard

By David N. Weiss
(10/16/2020)

Looking back at my years as an officer and member of the WGAW Board, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that all my efforts toward the original goal for which I sought a Guild office ended in colossal failure. Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t be prouder of my track record. And I firmly believe that I was privileged to be part of a crucial movement that empowered our then-sleepy Guild to gird itself for long-term survival in a rapidly changing media world. Along the way, I formed deep lifetime friendships, learned invaluable life lessons and found a lasting sense of fulfillment in helping to truly make a long-term, positive difference in the lives of our members, their families and perhaps the greater entertainment community as well. That doesn’t change the colossal failure part, but first, allow me a walk down memory lane.

Before the strike of 2007-2008, an earlier negotiating committee voted several times (I think unanimously) to alert our membership to the terrible terms the studios were trying to impose upon our members. But our previous Executive Director refused to honor that vote. He said we shouldn’t “rile the membership.” Appalled, the committee, made up of some of our most influential writers of the time, voted twice more (again, I think unanimously) that the membership, not the paid staff, should decide what would rile them. But our E.D. wouldn’t budge.

As a somewhat junior member of the committee, I remember watching, a little star-struck, as Phil Alden Robinson stood up and asked our the E.D. “How many times do we have to vote on this before you let us communicate with the members?” To nearly everyone’s astonishment, the E.D. actually said: “Until you get it right.”

Thus began a movement to put the destiny of the Guild back into the hands of its membership. I actually saved one of that movement’s early candidate’s statement. A few excerpts:

“Labor unions across the nation are finally waking up to the cold realities of the “conglomeratization” of America … Witness the difficulty of your own Negotiating Committee to get any movement out of the AMPTP at this year’s table … So what do we do? One word. Organize. Because our strength at the negotiating table is only as great as our jurisdiction in the market place ... An aggressive young organizer at the Hospital/Hotel Workers of America tells me they have 12 full-time Phd.’s who do nothing but research the books of their corporate adversaries to use as leverage in doing battle with management. How many full-time researchers do we have? Zero. For most of this year, we didn't even have an Organizing Director.

A labor union with no Organizing Director? Not good. But not surprising. In the words of one labor expert who recently visited our Guild, we’re about 15 years behind the cutting edge in facing the challenges of unionizing in this brave new “global economy.”

Our [then] current executive director refers to himself as our “chief negotiator.” Rather, the Guild should be retooled into a powerful organizing machine in which the E.D. thinks of himself first as our chief organizer, then as a negotiator. Our power at the table, our ability to enforce our contract, our annual revenue, our ability to reach into uncovered media -- indeed, the very long term health of our union all depend upon this.”

Okay, fine: That was my first candidate statement. And I’m still proud of it, and of being part of that early crew that brought on our current staff with its focus on empowering the membership to be in charge of their own destiny, to pick their own battles with a true democratic voice. Who would have dreamt back then that our little union would one day take on the talent agencies in a battle that may have looked insane a year ago, but that as of this writing leaves only two ATA members outside a Guild-friendly agreement? (And even one of those is now on the ropes.)

Happily, today I remain in service as a member of our Health & Pension Plan’s Board of Trustees. And I can truly say that my involvement with WGA leadership has been one of the most rewarding, empowering, uplifting—if sometimes maddening—and exhilarating experiences of my life. I cannot recommend being of service to your union more highly.

And what of my colossal failure? Oh, right. Well, I first ran for the Guild Board in hope of getting feature animation covered under the MBA. Ha. That still seems a million miles away. But, like Moses in the desert, who never got to step foot in the Promised Land (not that I’m any Moses, but you get the idea), really more than anything, it’s what happens along the journey that counts. Guild leadership can be an incredible journey. I hope you’ll take it. And enjoy.

David N. Weiss is an Emmy-nominated television and feature writer (The Smurfs 1 and 2, Shrek 2, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, the Rugrats TV/film franchise, All Dogs Go to Heaven) who served as a Board of Directors member (2004-05), as WGAW Vice President for two terms (2005-09), and as Secretary-Treasurer (2009-11). He continues to serve on the WGA-Industry Health & Pension Plan’s Board of Trustees. In 2019, he received the WGAW’s Animation Writers Caucus (AWC) Animation Writing Award for his contributions to the animation field as well as animation organizing efforts. His live-action co-screenwriting credits include Are We There Yet?, Daddy Day Camp, and Clockstoppers, and his additional TV writing credits include Cybill, Mission Hill, and Roundhouse.