Posts by Sacha
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The MEAA factsheet claims they had legal advice "that there are a variety of lawful means which could be used to establish the minimum wages, working conditions and residuals for performers on the production". Was that advice accurate, incorrect or misinterpreted?
I believe Russell wrote about this in one of the earlier threads. There are some ways that the employment/contracting relationships *could* be configured within existing law. They may not have been particularly workable but it's a fair position to take that things were not quite so black and white as SPADA or the producers have been asserting. Both sides had their legal advice, and then the government provided theirs.
However, it doesn't excuse the poor negotiating tactics or lack of clarity from the actors' representatives throughout. How does calling a boycott before you talk fit within any definition of good faith bargaining? Unless that's common in Australia - Whipp did say something about assuming that the ban would produce a quick response.
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and all these little murmurings add - to?
entropy
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I believe the issue is when people make sweeping statements about *all* members of a class or caste (or hod).
We seem to achieve a more interesting discussion when that's avoided, which is not to say you can't make strong points. And thank you, Mr Hood.
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At last, we have the 5 minute Campbell Live clip that I transcribed part of above.
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Several minute continuous Whipp talking head on TVNZ, questions edited out.
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that intellectual trainwreck
good, not just me then
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Whipp is liar. he never wanted to talk, he wanted to hold the Hobbit production to ransom.
Neil, I doubt that's true. He is admitting reading the situation wrong. Incompetence is a simpler answer.
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So that WAS the first request then.
oh
hang on:
Equity contacted the producers for months in an attempt to meet and discuss the performers’ contracts.
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Revisionism 101 (Simon Whipp Style): If we had of known the producers wouldn't meet with us, we wouldn't have instigated an international boycott.
Someone pop the Campbell Live clip up when it appears so we can share the gobsmack. Here's my unofficial transcript off the screen:
Amanda Gillies: "Look is there anything you would have done differently?"
Simon Whipp: "Well, I don't regret standing up with performers in New Zealand for their rights. Um, as I said, if we'd known the production would never agree to meet with us we may have decided to not proceed down this road.
But how would we ever have known that someone would not agree to meet? Um, any reasonable person thinks it's appropriate to try and meet to resolve something. Maybe when you have that meeting you can't resolve it. And maybe at that point in time you can go out and swing punches. But, you know, we thought that people would be prepared to sit down and talk to us to try and resolve it.
We're very happy now that we have an agreement with the Screen Production and Development association to sit down and talk about the conditions of performers in New Zealand for the future."
Seems to support Russell's proposition that the differences between Australian and NZ industrial landscapes may not have been understood. We'd need to see pre-boycott communication to know for sure.
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Given the talk of the exchange rate, I wonder if the government might offer some sort of hedge assistance rather than a topup to the 15% headline rebate.