WGA West Points “Name To Motion” To Curb Media Consolidation – Deadline

Calling media consolidations “one of many root causes” of its 109-day-old strike, the WGA West at the moment issued a “Name to Motion,” urging members to file public feedback with the Federal Commerce Fee and the Division of Justice in help of proposed revisions to their Merger Pointers – a coverage doc designed to information legislation enforcement round consolidation.

The “Name to Motion” comes after the fourth straight day of bargaining with the Alliance of Movement Image and Tv Producers to finish the writers strike and the day after the WGA West launched a report calling for extra authorities regulation of what it calls the “anti-competitive practices” of Disney, Amazon and Netflix, which it accuses of “abusing their dominance to additional drawback rivals, elevate costs for shoppers, and push down wages for the inventive workforce.”

“Make your voice heard concerning the harms of media consolidation,” the guild stated in a message to members at the moment. “Share your ideas on media consolidation with policymakers on the FTC and the DOJ!”

“Greater than 100 days into our strike, as we proceed to struggle for the sustainability of our occupation, occasions in Washington, D.C. present a possibility for writers to shine a light-weight on one of many root causes of the strike: media consolidation,” the guild stated.

The message goes on to say:

“For many years, the WGA has advocated for stronger antitrust oversight, bringing consideration to the ways in which mergers and vertical integration in our trade – from AT&T-Time Warner to Warner Bros.-Discovery to Amazon-MGM to Disney-Fox – have consolidated the ability of our employers and harmed writers in addition to the range of content material. 

“In quite a few stories and coverage filings – together with a brand new report referred to as The New Gatekeepers: How Disney, Amazon and Netflix Will Take Over Media, launched yesterday – the WGA has documented the menace to our trade from previous and future consolidation and referred to as for extra aggressive antitrust enforcement.

“Our present strike highlights the urgency of the problem; studios gained energy by way of anti-competitive consolidation and vertical integration after which used that energy to push down wages and impose extra precarious working situations for writers whereas profiting off of their work, and at the moment – collectively – refuse to cut price a good contract for writers to mitigate these harms.

“Final month, the FTC and DOJ collectively launched proposed revisions to their Merger Pointers, a coverage doc designed to information legislation enforcement round consolidation. These new Draft Pointers are a part of an effort by these companies to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement. In contrast with prior variations of Merger Pointers, they provide considerably extra weight to the ways in which mergers might be dangerous and, for the primary time, explicitly direct companies and courts to think about how mergers can damage employees. The Draft Pointers have been launched for public remark, and the FTC and DOJ need to hear from individuals who have been affected by consolidation – folks such as you.”

The FTC and DOJ are accepting feedback on their revisions of the Merger Pointers till September 18.