An acquaintance, working on storyboard correction at one of the studios, is being exhausted working overtime for no pay. I mean, no hourly rate. No pay at all. It can go on 'til 10 pm. He is the second person in our little group to be in this situation. The studios know you'll be jobless if you don't comply. It's become the normal situation. All the studios are doing it. The union does nothing.
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TOO FEW BOOKSHOPS, TOO MANY NAIL SALONS!!
Yrs, MK
COPYRIGHT 2014 BY MILTON KNIGHT
3 comments:
The "industry" has now gone to a permanent free-lance condition! When I was self-employed as an animator doing mostly commercials back in the 1970s and 80s, I worked by the foot of 35mm film, making anywhere from 30 to 100 dollars a foot. Most of the time, I worked evenings, weekends and holidays, there really are no holidays for the freelancer! So this condition of no overtime pay, or working for free is very much like working piece-rate, you have to put in as many hours as it takes to get the work done, and for the same money as for normal hours. When I worked on staff at Disney and Warners, many times our deadlines were so tight that the only way we could meet them and produce quality animation was to take work home or work late at the studio. Many of us did not charge for these extra hours, our fault. It's really up to the workers to make sure they mark their time cards for the actual hours worked. Of course management creates a culture of "contributing to the art of animation" and can't legally demand, but can EXPECT a certain amount of gift overtime, the implication being that the animator will get favorable treatment of some sort later on. Like the overtime money promised on "Snow White", a lot of us are still waiting for our perks. Trying to organize artists and animators is like herding Krazy Kats, but I admire the Union for trying. To say the "Union does nothing" about unreported overtime, is really about the artists. The ARTISTS MUST report their overtime, even at the risk of their "perks". If we all did this and mark time cards for actual hours worked, the law is on our side. It is AGAINST THE LAW for employers to expect uncompensated overtime, if the laws are complied with, we have nothing to fear.
I've been told (propaganda, maybe)that the Union was approached about these current conditions, and bowed to the producers.
The artists who do this payless overtime are afraid of losing their income in the Wonderful World we live in at the present time.
I'd never do it, but I can understand why folks would.
There are no "perks" involved, just staying employed!
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