Today in Labor History

February 13  --  SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

A national eight-month strike by the Sons of Vulcan, a union of iron forgers, ends in victory when employers agreed to a wage scale based on the price of iron bars—the first time employers recognized the union, the first union contract in the iron and steel industry, and what may be the first union contract of any kind in the United States - 1865

Some 12,000 Hollywood writers returned to work today following a largely successful three-month strike against television and motion picture studios.  They won compensation for their TV and movie work that gets streamed on the Internet - 2008

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Today in #LaborHistory : February 13 -- via -- www.unionist.com

Some 12,000 Hollywood writers returned to work today following a largely successful three-month strike against television and motion picture studios. They won compensation for their TV and movie work that gets streamed on the Internet - 2008 ~De

Hollywood’s longest work stoppage since 1988 ends on this day in 2008, when members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) vote by a margin of more than 90 percent to go back to work after a walkout that began the previous November 5.

The writers’ strike began during the negotiation of the WGA’s latest contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents over 300 production companies. Negotiations stalled after WGA members demanded a share of the revenues generated by movies, television shows and other works distributed on the Internet and viewed on computers, cell phones and other new-media devices.

Heavily covered by the press, the walkout proved to be much more damaging to the entertainment industry than expected. More than 60 TV shows had to be shut down, causing a drop in ratings and the loss of tens of millions of dollars in ad revenue for the networks. By the end, the strike was estimated to have cost the local L.A. economy more than $3 billion, taking into account lost wages for writers and crew members, lost business for service industries such as catering and equipment rental and reduced consumer spending. For the duration of the strike, TV viewers at home were forced to go without new episodes of their favorite shows, as networks dealt with the shutdown of production by loading the schedule with reruns and increased amounts of reality programming (such as a revamped version of the 1990s hit American Gladiators).

Though labor experts and WGA supporters heralded the outcome as an important victory for the striking writers, the contract included several key concessions. Studios could hire non-union writers to work on low-budget Internet shows, for example, and no residuals would be paid to writers for repeat shows viewed online within a few weeks after the original show aired on television. The strike also failed to win the union jurisdiction over the ever-more-important realms of reality programming and animation.

Still, in an email message to East and West Coast writers groups quoted in the New York Times, Patric M. Verrone, president of the West Coast guild, and Michael Winship, his East Coast counterpart, stressed the positive ending to the 2007-08 writers’ strike: “Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success.”

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/writers-strike-ends-after-100-days

 

A national eight-month strike by the Sons of Vulcan, a union of iron forgers, ends in victory when employers agreed to a wage scale based on the price of iron bars—the first time employers recognized the union, the first union contract in the iron and steel industry, and what may be the first union contract of any kind in the United States - 1865

The Sons of Vulcan was an American labor union which existed from 1858 until 1876. The union recruited puddlers, skilled craftsmen who manipulated pig iron to create steel. In the 1870s, it was the strongest union in the United States. It merged with two other iron and steel unions in 1876 to form the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers—the forerunner of the United Steelworkers.

As it became apparent in June 1864 that the Civil War might be coming to a close, employers attempted to cut wages. The union responded with a nationwide strike of its members, which lasted eight months. The strike ended on February 13, 1865, when the employers agreed to a wage scale based on the price of iron bars—the first time employers recognized the union, the first union contract in the iron and steel industry, and what may be the first union contract of any kind in the United States.
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_Vulcan