Comcast want “to destroy" the Writers Guild of America, say WGAW board members Chip Johannessen and Patric M. Verrone.
Johannessen (pictured right) and Verrone, in a statement posted on the Guild’s website Sunday, said that the writers working for the new owners of NBC Universal need the support of the WGA in their effort to join the union.
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On Dec. 14, writers for E!, Style and G4 voted to join the WGA but Comcast dismissed the action, calling the results an "invalid poll." The company said in a statement that it would not recognize the writers' WGA affiliation until the group goes through a formal process with the National Labor Relations Board.
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"Comcast has a history of not being supportive of union workers," said WGA West president John Wells at the time.
Now Johannessen and Verrone have taken a much stronger and more direct tone.
Despite promises to the contrary when the government was determining whether or not to approve the merger, Comcast are, say “Futurama” producer Verrone (pictured left) and former “24” producer Johannessen, “not interested in maintaining Hollywood’s union environment.” The duo claim that what the media giant, who formally took over NBC Universal on, really is “interested in is the same kind of foot-dragging, strong-arm tactics and deceit they’ve deployed against every effort to unionize elsewhere.”
In the summer of 2009, the WGAW unsuccessfully urged the Justice Department and the FCC to reject the $30 billion dollar deal that saw the cable giant take over NBC Universal.
Attempts by TheWrap to reach Comcast and the WGA were not immediately returned.
Read Johannessen and Verrone's full statement below:
To Our Fellow Members,
“If the Writers Guild didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it.” -- Legendary Hollywood executive Sid Sheinberg said that back in 1988 when he was president of Universal Studios. Mr. Sheinberg didn’t say it out of some great love of the Guild. The fact is we were on strike at the time and, if there had been some way to do without us, any self-respecting studio head would have jumped at the chance. But Mr. Sheinberg understood the role that our Guild, and all the other guilds and unions, play in this industry. A role that Universal’s latest owner, Comcast, seems not to understand.
Hollywood runs on a talented pool of what is essentially freelance labor. The guilds, every bit as much as the companies, make this talent pool possible by ensuring two things: First, that when you work, you’ll be fairly compensated. And second, that your pension and health benefits follow you from job to job. Projects and shows come and go, but fair compensation and portable benefits ensure that talented people remain.
