Industry & Labor

As states continue to open up and the film industry kicks back into high gear, Gov. Gavin Newsom is attempting to lure more productions to California.

The Anita Hill-led Hollywood Commission released new data on Friday from its recent survey of entertainment industry workers showing “pervasive issues of toxic workplaces, bullying and abuse in entertainment” and highlighting “the dire situation among the industry’s assistants and production workers.”

As New York prepares for the long-awaited reopening of its performing arts sector, with several Broadway shows putting tickets on sale for the fall, it is still unclear whether the Metropolitan Opera will be able to reach the labor agreements it needs to bring up its heavy golden curtain for the gala opening night it hopes to hold in September.

A new survey conducted The Actors Fund sheds more light on COVID-19’s impact on the entertainment industry. The organization surveyed 7,163 people who sought its assistance during the pandemic. The results were announced Thursday morning.

The PRO Act is about as important a piece of labor legislation as we’ve seen in some time. It holds the potential to open the door for workers and organizers to step up and reverse 40 years of losses for organized labor. The law, whose initials stand for Protecting the Right to Organize, aims to do just that: protect workers from being harassed or fired if they try to organize a union or if they try to help their already existing union become more active in their workplace. This is seen as the number one legislative priority for organized labor. The bill’s chances of passing the Senate are regarded as slim, but that isn’t stopping the union movement from trying to get it passed.

The Entertainment Industry Foundation has launched the EIF Careers Program, an initiative designed to create a more diverse talent pipeline to careers in film and television by increasing the number of underrepresented candidates in entry-level production jobs. EIF says it also plans to expand the program to include entry-level corporate and administrative roles, as well.

Hollywood's major studios and guilds are extending their return-to-work agreement another three months.

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The National Labor Relations Board will hold a hearing on May 7 to review objections to a recent union election at one of Amazon’s Alabama warehouses, the union that led the campaign said Tuesday.

To the dismay of worker advocates in the United States and around the world, Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama failed to unionize earlier this month, losing by a vote of 1,798 to 738. Not only is the loss a heavy blow to the union movement, but it shines a much-needed spotlight on several major problems with America's economic and labor landscape.

'Being the Ricardos,' which stars Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, had planned to film at the Los Angeles hotel, which faces widespread claims of racial discrimination and sexual misconduct from former staffers.